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Narcis Pelach tackles alarming number of shots Stoke City concede with must-read tactics tutorial
Narcis Pelach has spelled out why he is prepared to concede more shots than might normally be expected – but still make sure Viktor Johansson has a chance to be the hero – as he changes Stoke City’s defensive style.
Pelach has moved Stoke’s focus to defending space since he took over from Steven Schumacher in September but the number of shots they have let the opposition take, as well as man of the match awards for keeper Johansson, has been highlighted while they have gone on a run of one defeat in 10.
But it is no coincidence that keeper Lee Nicholls was player of the season when Pelach and his keeper coach Paul Clements were working together at Huddersfield Town, nor that Angus Gunn had the best year of his career last season under them at Norwich City.
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Pelach puts faith in good shot stoppers who work closely with their defence to deal with the kind of shots that Stoke – and Norwich and Huddersfield before them – are giving up. He still wants to bring down that number, however, and is confident it will happen as the team continues to get to grips with the new approach.
Pelach said: “That’s why I brought Paul Clements here with me because when we were at Huddersfield we defended with that style. I know it from Spain as well. We defend the space, we don’t defend the man. When you defend the space you allow the other team to have possession in front of you but it’s a possession that theoretically doesn’t hurt you because you always have 11 players behind the line of the ball. You concede passes per action. At Huddersfield we finished third with a very small team and we were the team that conceded most passes per action in games.
“If your centre-backs and full-backs are passing the ball in front of you, I prefer that to be pressing all the time man for a man, then they don’t do passes but they go forward and they get one-v-ones against your keeper. In the way we defend we concede shots, we concede more corners than others but you always give your keeper a bigger chance to save it.
“Viktor is performing really well. I wanted Clem here because the way he coaches relates very well to the way I coach outfield players. We work together and everything is connected with the defensive line. Even when Ben Gibson or Ashley Phillips blocks a shot, it’s connected with the position of Viktor. That’s the way me and Clem work. The defender is closing one angle, Viktor is closing another angle.
“We go into very small details and we believe in that. When the defensive line is doing one thing, Viktor is doing one thing. No one sees it but it’s connected.
“I knew I need Clem because we work together, it has worked at Norwich, worked at Huddersfield and I think it will work with Viktor. Viktor is in a great moment and I expect a great season from him. He will need to appear because we concede shots – of course I want to concede fewer shots but you need to bear in mind that the team was a man-orientated press and now we have gone to the other thing. This is one thing we do in Spain, we defend space, whereas in England it’s more common to defend the man and go into tackles all the time. It’s a different culture. It takes time to go into this and I saw that at Huddersfield and Norwich.
“At Norwich after five months it was difficult. We were 16th at some point and finished sixth. We were defending space and struggling a little bit but got better. It works. At Huddersfield it worked very well. West Brom defend the space too and if you see West Brom and Stoke it’s nearly the same style defensively. It’s worked well there and I expect it will work well here.
“But I want to reduce the number of shots, yes.”
Stoke conceded more than 20 shots against QPR, Blackburn and Bristol City in recent weeks but it was a less alarming nine, eight and eight in the last three home matches respectively against Derby, Millwall and Preston.
Johansson has been outstanding while Gibson and Ben Wilmot are both in the Championship top 10 for the average number of blocks they are marking per game, closely followed by Phillips.
Pelach is sure from his own experience that the shot figures will come under more control as the season goes on.
He said: “It will go down step by step as players understand more and more. They understand now but it is one thing to understand and it is another to implement. There are mistakes in our game, our positioning and the small details that allow you to go very quickly to the box. But as well when shots are taken there are always bodies in between and we give the keeper a chance.
“All the credit to Viktor, I love him, a great keeper and his attitude is unbelievable. He’s a great asset for the club and I expect him to be one of the main players in this project. Hopefully we can build something long together. I like how he plays, how he trains.
“It’s one part that step by step will get better but we can go through the stats as well: in the last five games, three goals and two of them were own goals. We’re getting clean sheets. Step by step it will get better.
“You saw that at Norwich last season. It was the same idea - 4-4-2, close the passes inside, send them wide, send them back. It’s the same way.”
