http://gty.im/484106064
Mark Hughes and his continental revolution at Stoke has hit new heights with the arrival of Xherdan Shaqiri last week. The Swiss international, known in his homeland as the ‘’Swiss Messi,’’ is the ninth new face at the Britannia this season, bringing the number of different nationalities in the first team to 15. Of the 35 registered first team players, less than half are from Great Britain or Ireland. It is not just the first team where Hughes’ revolution is taking place, as Stoke’s development side contains nine different nationalities in total.
It’s a far cry from when Stoke first began their first Premiership adventure back in 2008, an adventure that was predicted to be a brief sojourn in the higher echelons of English football. Managed then by Tony Pulis, the main body of the team consisted of players drawn from Great Britain and Ireland with a smattering of Senegalese and Jamaican players.
Stoke defied the doubters as they finished the season in a respectable mid-table position at the end of the 2008-2009 campaign. Fast forward seven years, and some of the brightest talents in world football are now on show at the Britannia, a telling indication of how far Stoke have come in this time.
Some will argue that the financial reach that all Premier League teams now have through the outlandish money they receive from TV rights is the real reason why the players like Shaqiri are joining mid table teams. This is of course part of the reason, and with NBC in the US reportedly paying close to an astonishing $1 billion to the Premier League for exclusive rights to show games in the States, the financial clout teams will have in the league will continue to outstrip what their European counterparts have at their disposal. The likes of Bournemouth signing a Max Gradel will no longer be a headline grabbing rarity.
However, it would be grossly unfair just to attribute economic windfall as the reason for Stoke’s progression. Under Pulis, Stoke were rightly labelled a team reliant on playing a long ball style of football. During the 2012-13 season Stoke led the table for the greatest number of long passes attempted. Further to this, they also led the way in the number of headers won, long throws and fouls committed. Pulis’ philosophy was certainly successful as Stoke had five successive mid-table finishes under him. The majority of teams visiting the Britannia could not deal with the sustained level of attrition thrown at them, and it was not unusual for visiting teams and their fans to dread those games.
http://gty.im/463472741
But with Pulis steadfast in his archaic approach, Stoke were stagnant and seemed to be destined for mid-table mediocrity. It did come as quite a shock when Stoke parted ways with Pulis at the end of the 2012-13 with chairman Peter Coates intent on Stoke plotting a new direction. It must be said that it was an extremely brave decision on Coates part, as he was gambling with Stoke’s Premier League existence by removing Pulis and the safety net he had created.
The appointment of Hughes by Coates was certainty a gamble. ‘’Sparky’’ had seen his managerial reputation take a very public battering after being sacked by Manchester City, an acrimonious exit from Fulham and a undeniably disastrous spell with QPR. Hughes signaled upon his appointment that his intentions were to eradicate the ‘’put them under pressue’’ ethos for a more cultured and expansive approach and things started brightly for Stoke.
http://gty.im/484106566
However, come March of the 2013-14 season with just 6 league wins during the campaign, Coates desire – in the words of Alexander Pushkin, ‘’to sacrifice the necessary in the hope of winning the superfluous’’ – had Stoke flirting with the very real threat of relegation. It does need pointing out though that Hughes’s desire to reinvent Stoke was being hindered by fruitless transfer forays, the tide was to turn. Arsenal were the first victims and the 1-0 victory was the catalyst needed as Stoke went on to collect an impressive 26 points from the remaining 33 on offer. Coates’s decision had been vindicated as Stoke’s 9th-placed finish under Hughes was their best to date.
Fast forward 12 months later and, and Stoke again finished 9th under Hughes’s leadership, collecting four more points than the previous season. Only a baby step on the face of things in the right direction, but gone was the long ball moniker and the over-reliance on goals coming from set pieces. Under Hughes, Stoke rocketed from the bottom of the league for goals scored from open play to a lofty sixth last season. Central to this was the new, more fluid, attacking axis of Mame Biram Diouf, the since-departed Victor Moses, and Bojan Krkić.
Krkić’s arrival, for the paltry sum of just €1.8 million ($2.05 million), was a momentous chapter in Hughes aspiring metamorphosis of Stoke. Schooled in the “tiki-taka” way, it finally heralded the advent of Hughes’s, cosmopolitan, revolution. The arrival of Shaqiri is the most compelling chapter of its evolution now. Shaqiri rejected both Everton and Newcastle, clubs with a perceived higher profile, and it is an telling indication of Stoke’s ambitions for European qualification. Ibrahim Afellay, Matu Joselu and Marco van Ginkel, on loan from Chelsea, all add further weight to Hughes’s revolution.
http://gty.im/484113672
Despite their opening weekend win at the Brittania, Liverpool can already testify that Stoke are as robust as ever. Pulis’ foundation, Coates’ gamble and Hughes’ vision all make for an intoxicating combination. Clearly, Stoke are no longer just in the Premier League to make up numbers, and their time has come.
