Stoke City 2015/2016 Premier League Preview

NOLA Stokie – @scfc504

Best Player:

I would have to go with the fleet-footed Marko Arnautovic. The Austrian has loads of talent but that has not always translated to on pitch performances- if he is able to get his head together we can expect a good run from him this season.

Weakest Link:

I am a bit worried that our backup defenders aren’t up to snuff with Ryan Shawcross’ lingering back injury. Neither Philipp Wollscheid nor Marc Wilson seems like an option supporters will be totally comfortable with heading into the season.

Manager:

Mark Hughes has led the team to two consecutive record finishes so he really has my trust. He has also taken huge steps to “improve” the style of play from Tony Pulis’ long-ball style.

Expectations:

Mark Hughes has had two great seasons but I don’t expect another record finish this time round. I expect us to finish between 9th and 12th. The window isn’t over but losing Steven Nzonzi who I felt was our best player will hit us hard. There will be probably be injuries to the likes of Shawcross, Muniesa, Arnautovic and Bojan and it will have a huge effect over the course of the season.

Thoughts on the Transfer Business:

Honestly, I’m not pleased with the deals we have concluded as of now but there is still time to sign new players. It was unfortunate losing Nzonzi to Sevilla and we are going to sorely miss him in the middle. There needs to be an adequate replacement for him and a new centre back. We are also in desperate need for a right winger with pace and it was nice seeing team try its luck with Shaqiri. Andriy Yarmolenko is still in the market and he will be a good option.

Player Likely to Break Through:

I am going with three players here. Ollie Shenton looks a promising young midfielder from Stoke and Dom Telford is a 19-year-old forward who had a solid spell with Blackpool in the Championship last season. The last name will be the most likely to generate hype as he was signed from the famed Barcelona academy and that is Mohammed El Ouriachi.

First image courtesy premierleague.com

Second image courtesy espnfc.com