After recent heavy defeats, can Stoke salvage their season?

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At the beginning of the 2015/16 season, it seemed as though Stoke would be challenging for a place in Europe’s second-tier competition next season. They have broken their transfer record twice this season, first when they signed Xherdan Shaqiri from Inter Millan for £12 million on a five-year deal in August 2015 and then again in February 2016 when they completed the signing of Giannelli Imbula for £18.3 million from Porto on a five and half year deal.

Stoke’s recent dip in form may seem alarming but it shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise. The Potters only managed to secure their first win of the current season on the 26^th of September against Bournemouth. This was their seventh Premier League game and the matches before that had resulted in three defeats and three draws.

Stoke’s last three games in particular have been awful. They conceded four goals for the third consecutive Premier League match against Manchester City on Saturday and have only scored once during that period. They are only the third Premier League team to concede four, or more, goals in three consecutive games. The other two were West Ham and Wigan, in 2008 and 2010 respectively.

In the four games Stoke have played in April, they have conceded 14 goals and scored three, causing them to suffer three defeats and one draw. They haven’t won a game in the Premier League since the 19^th of March when they beat Watford 2-1 at Vicarage Road. The Stoke players don’t even look as if they are trying. In all honesty, it looks like they are on their holidays already.

In February, they also had a bit of a bad spell when they were beaten 3-0 by both Manchester United and Everton. After Saturday’s defeat, they have now lost more games that they have won this season (won 13, lost 14) and are in 10^th place. Europa League football is looking more and more unlikely for Mark Hughes’ side and they are set for a disappointing end to the season.

Their final three games are against Sunderland, Crystal Palace and West Ham. None of those are “easy fixtures” and if Stoke don’t get their act together, they could lose all three. Sunderland and Crystal Palace have already been victorious against them this season while their match against West Ham ended in a goalless draw.

Stoke have certainly not been at their best this season, but The Potters have had a substantial amount of injuries to contend with. They are currently without first choice goalkeeper Jack Butland, Jon Walters, Xherdan Shaqiri and others. The news that Ibrahim Afellay could face eight months out after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in training on Friday does not help Stoke’s injury crisis. Before this injury, Afellay had been an integral part of the team, playing 31 of Stoke’s 35 league games this season. He had two goals and two assists.

Jakob Haugaard, Butland’s replacement in goal since the start of April, has been very poor and is yet to keep a clean sheet in the league. 40-year-old Shay Given has been just as bad, which shows how important Jack Butland is to the side. Before his devastating injury, Butland had kept 10 clean sheets and made 103 saves in 31 Premier League appearances.

It seems like this will be another mid table finish for Stoke with nothing to show for it. They went out of both the League Cup and the FA Cup in their last two matches in January, so they have only had the Premier League to focus on since February.

Hughes’ side seem to have a habit of slipping up just when it looks like they are contention for a Europa League place. They have a brilliant squad but not enough conviction to see out a game when they need to. For example, the 2-2 draw with Swansea earlier on this month. Stoke were 2-0 up after 53 minutes but, on Haugaard’s league debut, they surrendered the two-goal lead and two valuable points.

Their confidence is understandably low at the moment, but the team need to pull together and finish the season strongly. Stoke’s season has been very average and when you break your transfer record twice in one season, it’s not unreasonable to expect something above average.

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