Spanish coach Narcis Pelach has been appointed as the new Stoke City head-coach after the Potters caused a stir with their sacking of Steven Schumacher earlier this week.
Stoke have given the 37-year-old his first shot as a head coach in English football, and he has left his role as first-team coach at Norwich City after 16 months to take over at the bet365 Stadium.
Sporting director Jonathan Walters relieved Schumacher of his duties on Monday, just five games into the new season. The decision to remove the 40-year-old surprised many in English football, but the club has moved quickly to find a replacement this week.
Pelach’s only previous managerial experience came when he led Spanish lower-league club Figueres from 2016 to 2018, and then when he managed Girona’s feeder club, Peralada, for the 2018/19 season.
In the intervening years, he has served as an assistant at Girona, Huddersfield Town, and the Canaries, as well as twice as temporary manager of the Terriers in 2022 and 2023.
The Spaniard faces a daunting assignment in taking over at Stoke and proving that he is the right man for the position instead of Schumacher, and Football League World has identified three concerns that he must address immediately now that he is in charge of the club.
Restore equilibrium in defense and attack.
Schumacher’s set-up was some of the most attacking and exciting football Stoke fans have seen in years, but he could be easily criticised for going too far with his attacking style, causing his team to lose heavily on numerous occasions and damaging their defensive record.
Stoke lost by three or more goals four times in his nine months in charge, beginning with a 5-0 loss at home to Leicester City in February, followed by 3-0 losses to Norwich City and Swansea City last season, and then another 3-0 defeat at Watford in the first league away trip of this season.
You have to go back as far as January 2021, when Stoke were hammered 4-0 in the FA Cup by Leicester, to find four more defeats by three goals or more before his appointment, indicating that he made his club too easy to beat and too vulnerable when they were a goal or two down.
On the other hand, the 40-year-old oversaw some big wins during his time at the club, with a 4-0 win over his old team Plymouth and a 3-0 victory over Bristol City at the end of 2023/24, as well as a 5-0 cup win over Middlesbrough last month, among the highlights, but those thrashings were too few and far between to demonstrate that his attack at all costs method was working on the whole.
Stoke’s midweek EFL Cup draw against Fleetwood Town was the first time they had been level at the end of a 90-minute game of any kind, including friendlies, since a 1-1 draw against Sheffield Wednesday in April, 17 games ago, indicating that some parity must be restored in their play going forward.
Pelach must be able to create a balance between wanting to attack to win a game and being able to sit back and relax on a lead when necessary, and he must instill this attitude in the players as soon as feasible.
Give outcasted players an opportunity to show themselves.
Copy of FLW 169 Image (50)
Schumacher appeared to be allowed free reign over Stoke’s team this summer, and he made some critical decisions that have never been completely explained to fans, such as the strange treatment of Andre Vidigal.
Winger Vidigal started last season admirably under Alex Neil after joining Stoke from Portuguese side Maritimo, but lost form under Schumacher and was gradually phased out of the team near the conclusion of the season as other players stepped up to keep Stoke in the Championship.
Andre Vidigal’s 2023/24 record under Neil vs. Schumacher
Appearances
Starts
Goals
under Neil
14
11
5
Under Schumacher
16
8
2
Statistics from Transfermarkt.
Many were surprised that he stayed at the club this summer, considering the new signings in attack, and he was apparently offered a way out toward the end of the window, but chose to stay in the Potteries to seemingly reclaim his spot in the squad.
The 26-year-old did pick up a knock in training that kept him out for a few weeks at the start of the season, but with Stoke struggling for goals in the league in the early stages of the season, he has not even made the bench since returning and will most likely be relieved to see his now-ex-boss go.
In addition to Vidigal, Ryan Mmaee is another Potters player who could profit in the long run from a change of head coach, but he will have to spend the next few months on loan with Rapid Vienna after joining the Austrian giants earlier this month.
Mmaee had a well-documented fallout with Schumacher early this year, which ended in him being barred from the first-team squad for a month, and he hasn’t played many games for Stoke since, so he decided to transfer abroad.
The Moroccan international has a much better chance of becoming a regular for the Potters under Pelach because he has a clean slate at the club, and he might return in the January transfer window if Stoke want to freshen up the dynamics of their attack.
Vidigal, on the other hand, must be given the opportunity to show himself under Pelach and accept it if he is, or he will be out in the cold for at least another three months before he may seek refuge elsewhere.
Figure out his best starting lineup.
Stoke have had their fair share of injuries this season, and it was difficult for Schumacher to maintain a consistent team game after game, but he still had the tendency to change the starting XI when greater consistency was perhaps required to produce results.
The former Plymouth manager rarely sent his players into a game unaltered from the previous one, and when he did, it generally backfired, as it did against Watford last month, when Stoke lost 3-0.
He was also prone to making strange decisions when selecting his team, which is perhaps easy to say in retrospect, but it is understandable that playing Lynden Gooch, a versatile player but a right-back by trade, at attacking midfield, as he did in what turned out to be his final game in charge against Oxford United, was bound to raise some eyebrows.
Luke McNally Lynden Gooch
Notable absentees from the starting eleven at the Kassam Stadium included loanees Ashley Phillips and Lewis Koumas, who had both played well in previous starts against Middlesbrough and Plymouth, but were dropped in favour of Gooch and Ben Gibson, who are clearly perceived as safer options.
Pelach must address one issue now that he is in charge: he must establish his preferred starting XI as soon as possible. While teams typically change week to week based on the opposition in front of them, he must quickly get to know his squad to determine their best positions and which teammates they are best suited to playing alongside.
Read more news on:https://sportupdates.co.uk/
Leave a Reply