Stoke City has been guided by Mark Hughes to three straight ninth-place finishes for 2013-14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 season, their best place finish since 1974-75 before finishing 13th last season. However, their team, which has added weight by bringing in new players like Jese from Paris Saint Germain, Kurt Zouma from Chelsea and Saido Berahino from West Bromwich Albion in January, has failed to perform this season.
Stoke City is known for their mettlesome defending and they have become famous in the footballing world as the place teams struggle to win points at. Their defending at the bet365 stadium has been popularized to the extent that it is now considered an achievement for teams who to win matches on a “cold, rainy night at Stoke”.
They are an extremely powerful side with tall burly players all across the pitch who love to play the physical game. With the addition of stout and pacey attackers, they perfected their balance on the pitch. However, things have fallen apart this season. The biggest example of that is the off form of their few primary defenders who have failed to produce the game they did over the years.
The biggest example is probably Dutch defender Erik Pieters who has been highly inconsistent this season. Pieters at left back for Stoke City has been a mainstay for the Stoke City defence over the years. He joined the club back in 2013 when he was brought in from PSV Eindhoven and has been effective for Stoke ever since.
This season, with the arrival of new centre-backs in the form of Kevin Wimmer and Kurt Zouma, Mark Hughes had to tweak the system. He has opted for a three-man backline, which has seen Pieters push up to play as a wing-back rather than a fullback.
Pieters sure is taking his time to adjust to the new position and so far things have not gone well for him. It is in this light, that there have been reports linking him with a move to Turkish side Fenerbahce. The Turkish team is looking for a new left back with the full backs of their squad failing to perform up to the desired standards.
They are now chasing the 29-year old and a move for him might come soon enough. Stoke City themselves cannot afford to lose Pieters simply because they do not have a good enough back up and are unlikely to get a great amount of money from his sale to sanction the buy of a new quality fullback who can adjust to Stoke’s physical game. A blimp in form for a few months should not convince Stoke to lose their versatile left back.
