Stoke City Season Preview

Roster Moves

In: Joselu, Philipp Wollscheid (loan made permanent), Jakob Haugaard, Marco van Ginkel (loan), Shay Given, Glen Johnson, Moha El Ouriachi, Ibrahim Afellay

Out: Wilson Palacios, Thomas Sorensen, Andy Wilkinson, Robert Huth, Steven Nzonzi, Jamie Ness, Asmir Begovic

With more than a month to go before the transfer window closes, Stoke are trying to bring in quality, especially in the attack. Having netted approximately £20million from the sales of Robert Huth, Steven N’Zonzi, and Asmir Begovic and having spent less than half that total thus far the big question is whether they can get anyone to take their money. Big names like Shaquiri and Konoplyanka have reportedly turned down big offers with Andriy Yarmolenko rumored to be the next high profile attacker dubious of spending his rainy Wednesday nights or any other nights in Stoke.

Goalkeepers: Jack Butland, Shay Given, Jakob Haugaard

Jack Butland is now the starter at the Britannia and should be excellent value in a wide variety of fantasy formats. The Stoke City goalkeeper isn’t as exceptional a commodity as it was under Tony Pulis but the Potters should be just good enough to get some wins and some clean sheets but not so good as to limit the number of shots Butland has to save. That’s the magic formula that saw Lukasz Fabianski lead most formats in scoring last season. If Butland falters then Shay Given should be a similar value.

Defenders: Glen Johnson, Marc Muniesa, Ryan Shawcross, Erik Pieters, Dionatan Teixeira, Marc Wilson, Philipp Wollscheid, Phil Bardsley, Geoff Cameron

The issue here for fantasy managers is that this is a fairly deep unit. Glen Johnson is the only new arrival and should start regularly along with Shawcross and Pieters but the identity of the fourth preferred starter is a big mystery. Wollscheid was brought over permanently and certainly fits the mold of a Mark Hughes defender. Marc Muniesa brings a bit more attacking and passing to a potential partnership with Shawcross. Overall, it is unlikely that any Stoke City defender will be exceptional in salary cap formats. In single ownership formats that reward blocked shots, tackles won, aerial duals won, and/or passes intercepted then Shawcross has significant value. Glen Johnson is one to watch to see how much he is allowed to get forward and how much he still has left in the tank after a down season at Anfield.

Midfielders: Marco van Ginkel, Glenn Whelan, Charlie Adam, Stephen Ireland, Ibrahim Afellay, Mohamed El Ouriachi, Steve Sidwell, Olivier Shenton

You can see why Mark Hughes is looking for quality midfielders. Part of the issue here is a superficial one. Bojan and Marko Arnautovic are also more midfielders than forwards but have been classified as forwards by most information and fantasy services. The Potters also lost Steven N’Zonzi and Victor Moses from last season’s group. Van Ginkel will be interesting to watch in his first extended Premier League chance – he started slowly at Milan last season but finished starting regularly and showing some attacking ability. If he can combine some attacking stats with strong holding play then he could be a late-round find in draft formats and a great cheap pick-up in salary cap leagues. Charlie Adam is the only other player here likely to make an impact and his starting status is entirely unclear with Bojan back. Afellay used to be a big name but he is probably a squad player at Stoke City coming off a season in the Greek top flight.

Forwards: Mame Biram Diouf, Bojan Krkic, Joselu, Peter Crouch, Jon Walters, Peter Odemwingie, Marko Arnautovic

The exact opposite of the midfield group, the forward group is deep. The problem for fantasy managers with this depth is that Mark Hughes was inclined to use that depth regularly last season. Stoke City are never going to be an incredibly high scoring group anyway and Hughes’ tendency to mix at match forward groups saw none of the forwards start more than 28 matches. Diouf was the most productive with 11 goals with Crouch and Walters even on eight after that. The addition of Joselu looks like an eventual Peter Crouch replacement strategy as the 25-year-old Spaniard stands 6’3” and is at his best attacking crosses inside the box. Bojan is a tough one to evaluate. He was great in limited action last season but he has a history of injuries that would lead you to believe that him starting only 14 matches isn’t exactly a fluke. Draft the former Barcelona trainee with caution.

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