Stoke City players take problem to Narcis Pelach to try to finally find fix
Stoke City players have gone to Narcis Pelach this week with a mission to really fix the kind of game management problem shown against Bristol City that has plagued the club for too long.
Stoke ended up fighting for a point in a match when they had led 2-0 on Tuesday night at home, with Nahki Wells able to score two quick goals early in the second half. It is not the first time this season that Stoke have lost control of a game and not the first time they have conceded quick goals in succession.
Hull scored twice in two minutes (and three times in 16) last month, Watford scored twice in two minutes in August. Last season, Norwich scored twice in four minutes, Blackburn twice in six, QPR twice in five, Hull twice in two and Preston twice in six. The year before that was similar, with Watford scored twice in four minutes against Stoke, Blackburn twice in four, Norwich twice in six.
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Losing control can go beyond that metric and Pelach doesn't expect one team meeting to solve everything but he does believe that together they can improve the way they react to set-backs.
He said at his press conference before this weekend's game at Sheffield United (Saturday, 3pm): “We would be learning these things in a different environment (in an ideal world). In a pre-season game if you’re winning 2-0 and then lose control – all these things are difficult to manage but they are trainable and we have to find a solution – we have to do now in the middle of the competition.
“We should have managed the game much better. Of course it’s easy to do it with a laptop the day after the game but our duty is to find solutions. It doesn’t mean that it won’t happen again because it’s a process but at least we’re conscious about what is to come in that game as well as in the Hull City one.
“It’s not something that has just happened now, it’s happened in the past at Stoke City. Players have brought that conversation to me this week, saying it’s happened before and they feel like sometimes they lose control and they have to manage their mentality much better. I’m here to help them do that. I expect that next time we’re in this position we will manage it much better, not knowing exactly what will happen because this is the game, but more conscious of doing things we have talked about now. It gives us confidence that next time we are in this position we can do better.
“There were some positives as well. We scored two goals, which is important for us and for the team. We need to be scoring goals. It’s something I talk about a lot to them. I’m happy that in 15 minutes we scored two goals. I’m not going to say that I prefer a 2-2 than a 0-0 but if I had to choose something now I would. I want the team to feel we can score.
“We are working on our finishing and how we can get into the final third more times so we can have more end product. If we want to connect with the fans it’s important to score.
“The first 15 minutes were exceptional. The second half was not good but we got a draw. I know I did something very unpopular: I put a back five at home. But this is my job. I’m going to make the best decisions I can for the team and make decisions I think can get us points. Now that point is valuable, it’s four unbeaten and although I knew it was difficult to see at that moment but I told the team that if you cannot win, at least we don’t need to lose.
“We got a point, we move onto the next one. The Championship is about getting points. In a difficult league where teams are very equal, every point is very valuable.”
A succession of Stoke managers have talked about a fragility when something goes awry during a match.
Pelach said: “The players brought that in this week to me. They say, ‘Boss, this is not just something that is happening now, it’s come from the past. It has happened to us that we lose control sometimes.’
“We had a meeting just for that, talking about how we can manage these situations better. What can we do in that kind of scenario to slow the game down and try to manage it? Now we have a plan. It doesn’t mean that because we have a plan it will never happen again because this is a process. We need to change it slowly from a tactical point of view, from the management point of view and from the mental point of view.
“But at least we are conscious. We know we have a problem there and we are going to try to solve it with as much positivity as we can have. I’m looking forward to going into the next challenge and trying to avoid these situations in the future as much as possible.”