Stoke have shone in Europe
Sometimes you can become a victim of your own success. In Stoke City’s case, a fabulous cup run last season and a summer of building towards a similarly prolonged spell in the Europa League has had an adverse effect on their form in the league, coming to a head in yesterday’s 5-0 thrashing by Bolton Wanderers.
For Bolton, of course, it was sweet revenge after last season’s traumatising FA Cup semi-final. In the resulting months, Bolton had lost 13 of 16 league games and are still in the relegation zone following yesterday’s result, but they’re now just three points behind Tony Pulis’s men with a superior goal difference.
The Potters’ European adventure so far has been almost flawless. Eight games played since they welcomed Hajduk Split to the Britannia Stadium in July in the qualifying rounds, and they’ve earned seven wins. Now primed for qualification for the knockout rounds, they have already exceeded expectations. The impact on their form at home, however, could prove to be disastrous.
An outlay of almost £20m this summer, mainly for Peter Crouch and Wilson Palacios, is a smaller net spend than only Manchesters United and City, Chelsea and Liverpool, and yet Stoke’s improvement from this stage last season – when they started disastrously, with no European competition to worry about – is just two points.
Stoke’s alarming failure to balance domestic football with the European game reminds me of Ipswich Town a few years ago. After a fantastic first season back in the Premier League the previous year, when they finished 5th and three points short of Champions League qualification, Ipswich had an equally memorable 2001-2002 campaign. They bolstered their squad with the likes of Finidi George, enjoyed great early season form in the UEFA Cup (including a famous 1-0 defeat of Internazionale), and got relegated.
Ipswich’s then chairman David Sheepshanks summed up their struggles: “We have been victims of our own success. Our eyes were on Europe back in August and we never identified a realistic target for this season.”
In 2008, Bolton’s coach Gary Megson was lambasted by fans for his decision to rest players for their UEFA Cup game away to Sporting Lisbon. They lost 1-0, crashing out before the quarter-finals, but without Europe they went their last five league games unbeaten, winning three, and staying up when they appeared doomed.
While I think Tony Pulis has the benefit of Ipswich and Bolton’s experiences serving as a warning, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Stoke’s continued failure to adjust to league football after every Europa League game (they’ve lost all four matches following Thursday fixtures so far) threatened their Premier League status. I think their squad, featuring the likes of Peter Crouch, Kenwyne Jones and Matthew Etherington, is stronger than that Ipswich side of 2002, but if their poor league form continues while their European form flourishes, Stoke fans might find themselves minding what they wish for.
