Potters fans' expectations have waned since relegation in 2018, yet four consecutive lower-half finishes have not dispelled fans from believing that the club is now in its best position to mount a play-off challenge since their return to the Championship.
This preview will provide a section-by-section lowdown of the story of Stoke City's 2021/22 season, what to expect from this season’s opposition, this summer's ins and outs at the club, the likely tactical set up to be used by Michael O'Neill and what the Potters will aim to achieve in this upcoming campaign.
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Last season’s disappointment
Stoke headed into the 2021/2022 season with a quiet air of confidence and hope for the campaign ahead after making statement signings such as Mario Vrancic and Sam Surridge, and finally clearing the club of most of the previous managers' failed buys.
Michael O’Neill’s side began the season in style with four wins in their first six games, and sat third in the Championship table at the beginning of October with hope to build on their good start and make a genuine push for the play-off spots.
Despite still being around the play-offs at the turn of the year, Stoke’s chances began to fade as their squad struggled to cope with injuries to two of its star men – Harry Souttar and Nick Powell.
The introduction of Lewis Baker in the January transfer window gave fans a glimmer of hope, with the 27-year-old eventually ending the campaign with eight goals and two assists from just 21 games. His influence wasn’t enough to stop the Potters falling to numerous defeats by a single goal, and by March, Stoke seemed destined for yet another mid-table finish.
They ended 14th in the league with 62 points, and reached the Round of 16 in both domestic cups.
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In the opposing corner
The season ahead will pose six new challenges for the Potters after Norwich City, Watford and Burnley were relegated from the Premier League and Wigan Athletic, Rotherham United and Sunderland were promoted from League One.
All three relegated teams will be looking for a swift return to the top flight, and it has been all change at both Watford and Burnley with Rob Edwards and Vincent Kompany being appointed as their head coaches respectively.
Each of the teams have kept hold of some of their star talent (so far), Norwich with Teemu Pukki, Milot Rashica and Max Aarons, Watford with Ismaila Sarr, Emmanuel Dennis and Joao Pedro, and Burnley heading into the season with Maxwel Cornet, Connor Roberts and new addition Scott Twine.
The three promoted teams from League One boast squads with promising young talent as well as players with Championship experience. Wigan’s star men include Callum Lang, Will Keane and Jack Whatmough, Rotherham have the talents of Dan Barlaser, Chiedozie Ogbene and Shane Ferguson to call on, and Sunderland’s squad includes Jack Clarke, Alex Pritchard and the talismanic Ross Stewart.
The rest of the league is strong as always, with Middlesbrough, Sheffield United and West Bromwich Albion making up the early season bookies’ favourites to lift the title alongside the three relegated sides.
There have been numerous managerial changes throughout the summer, with Michael Beale (QPR), Michael Appleton (Blackpool), Jon Dahl Tomasson (Blackburn), John Eustace (Birmingham) and Danny Schofield (Huddersfield) all being hired for their respective clubs.
Notable player additions throughout the league include: Kal Naismith to Bristol City, Josh Cullen to Burnley, Jean-Michael Seri to Hull City, Zack Steffen to Middlesbrough, Zian Flemming to Millwall, Gabriel Sara to Norwich, Anel Ahmedhodzic to Sheffield United and Jed Wallace to West Brom.
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Stoke's comings and goings
Stoke have been active in both departments of the transfer window so far, with seven incomings and eight outgoings either on loan or permanent deals. The window remains open until the end of August, with the club targeting at least two new signings before it slams shut.
Michael O’Neill has bolstered his front line, with long-time target Dwight Gayle signing for the Potters on a two-year deal from Newcastle United to add valuable Championship experience and a guarantee of goals when provided with the right service.
Gayle scored 34 in 122 appearances in his six seasons on Tyneside, but his most recent fruitful goal spell came at the Potters’ rivals West Brom, where he netted 23 goals in 39 Championship games in 2018/19 as they reached the playoffs.
He will provide competition for Tyrese Campbell and Jacob Brown up front, with Stoke also likely to add another striker to the ranks in August.
Josh Laurent has joined the club on a free transfer from Reading, and the 27-year-old will add some much needed energy and dynamism to a Stoke midfield that will take on a completely new look from the start of last season, after Lewis Baker joined in January and became one of the first names on Michael O’Neill’s team sheet.
Laurent has described himself as, “in-between a holding midfielder and an eight, a box to box player with a lot of energy.”
City have also added Gavin Kilkenny and Will Smallbone on loan from Bournemouth and Southampton respectively, with both highlighted as good passers and quick at transitioning the ball – a key component to the way O’Neill wants to set up on the attack.
Defensive efforts have been aided by the additions of Arsenal loanee Harry Clarke, veteran centre-back Aden Flint on a free transfer after he left Cardiff City and versatile wingback Liam McCarron on a three-year contract from Leeds United for an undisclosed fee.
Clarke shone on loan at Hibernian last season and his versatility will have appealed to club hierarchy after outgoings on the right side and centre of defence.
Flint is likely to command a starting berth at the beginning of the campaign with Harry Souttar still sidelined, whilst youngster McCarron will provide competition to Josh Tymon on the left side.
Outgoings at the club have been largely on free transfers after contract expirations, or in the form of loan moves. Five of the eight departures have seen players move onto other Championship clubs, with club captain Joe Allen moving back to boyhood club Swansea City after six years with the Potters, Tommy Smith moving to Middlesbrough and Tom Ince to Reading after their respective contracts with Stoke ended.
Benik Afobe (Millwall) and Alfie Doughty (Luton Town) have both also left for undisclosed fees. Allen’s departure has been seen as significant for a number of reasons, not least with the Welshman being the last regular starter from Stoke’s 2017/18 relegation squad to leave the club.
Other notable outgoings have been James Chester to Derby County and Steven Fletcher to Dundee United, whilst Mario Vrancic was loaned to HNK Rijeka, effectively ending his time at Stoke with his contract up next summer.
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The set-up
Michael O’Neill has made clear that his favoured formation is a 3-4-1-2 that is able to shift into a 5-3-2 when needed in defensive situations. He set his side up in a variation of this formation 37 times last season, as opposed to fielding a four-at-the-back set-up just nine times, according to whoscored.com.
The club’s additions in the transfer market point to a continuation of this system, with Harry Clarke brought in to replace the outgoing Smith at right wing-back, Josh Laurent to replace the energetic style of Allen in the starting XI, and Dwight Gayle to provide striker competition after Fletcher departed the club.
Despite not contributing to heaps of goals over his two seasons in North Staffordshire, Fletcher’s skillset is one that O’Neill has identified as key to the way he wishes to set up his attack.
With great close control and technical ability, he was able to strike up a good partnership with the more direct and pacey Tyrese Campbell in 2020/21 before the latter’s serious injury derailed the Potters’ season.
The club have already made fans aware that they are searching for a like-for-like replacement for the Scot – with Keinan Davis a likely target after talks broke down with the Aston Villa frontman last summer.
Harry Souttar is one of the most important cogs in O’Neill’s system, and Stoke coaches and fans alike will be hoping to see the Australian international centre-back back to full fitness as soon as possible.
Souttar had established himself as one of the first names on his manager’s team sheet in the 20/21 season before an ACL tear whilst playing for his country last November saw his outstanding 21/22 campaign cut short.
He won an average of 98% of his aerial duels and 92% of his defensive duels before his injury, and also ranked in the top 10% for progressive passes compared to other centre-backs in the Championship, proving his worth as one of the most valuable defenders in the league at still only 23 years old.
Nick Powell will also be missing for the first months of the season after picking up an injury in a behind-closed-doors pre-season game recently, and his influence on how the Potters set up when he is fit is largely unmatched by any other player at the club due to his unique skillset compared to the rest of the squad.
He arrived at the club in 2019 and was labelled as a traditional ‘number 10’ after mostly occupying that role in his successful spell at Wigan Athletic.
Since joining Stoke and playing a key role in the team when fit over the last two seasons, O’Neill has used Powell’s profile to play him further forward as an out-and-out striker or as a second striker in a role similar to Fletcher’s – utilising his height, great ability with the ball at his feet and knack of drifting into the right areas to score key goals inside the box.
The 27-year-old is best described as a ‘raumdeuter’, a term popularised by Bayern Munich forward Thomas Muller’s style of play.
Loanee Will Smallbone is expected to begin the season playing in Powell’s position, and his possible inclusion in the team is likely to push O’Neill to play a more flat, interchangeable three in midfield rather than one player further forward.
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Great expectations...or not?
Despite FFP lingering over their heads, O’Neill and his hierarchy have managed to keep hold of all of their most valuable players this summer despite particular interest in Josh Tymon and Joe Bursik.
This past week the club have announced Lewis Baker as the new club captain, a decision that has been well-received by fans with the 27-year-old the obvious choice for many after Allen's departure.
With every player available, the talent and depth within the squad is undeniably enough to trouble the top six – but good fortune has escaped City over the last two seasons with long injury layoffs to Campbell, Souttar and Powell all catalysts for eventual drop-offs in form after good starts to respective campaigns.
Come November, O’Neill will have been in his job for three years, and this is the first season that it feels like make or break for the Northern Irishman.
A positive start to this pre-season saw Stoke beat Cork City in Ireland, but three losses to Accrington Stanley, Bristol Rovers and Hearts and a draw to Fleetwood Town will not have inspired fans to believe that this campaign is set to be one to remember.
These friendlies must be approached with caution, however, with new signings trying to gel and the manager tweaking his systems throughout to find what will work for the season ahead.
Stoke fans expect to see progress, and are not particular in the way this is achieved.
This time around, anything less than a top-half finish and a play-off push that lasts at least relatively deep into the season will be deemed as a sign of stagnation under O'Neill, and would likely see the end of his time in the Potteries with his contract up in June 2023.