Stoke City vs. West Brom: Recap & Reaction

Like a broken record, Stoke City were outplayed on Saturday once again. This time the outplaying came at the hands of West Brom as The Baggies cruised to a 2-0 win over The Potters at The Hawthorns.

Stoke City will now head into the World Cup break sitting at 17th on the table with 25 points. The Potters won’t play another match now until December 10th after the World Cup has concluded.

The good news for Stoke City is they still only sit four points out of a top ten spot on the table. The bad news though for The Potters, is they also only sit two points above the relegation zone. After the World Cup break, it will be crucial for Stoke City to find points consistently.

More of the Same From Stoke City Against the Baggies

Too many times this season so far, Stoke City have been stuck in the mud in attack and have lacked quality defensively. The same can be said for Stoke City’s performance on Saturday against West Brom.

The Potters on Saturday never really got things going in attack, with Stoke City’s best chance of the day coming on an off-target Liam Delap header. And then defensively, Stoke City were caught out of position and looking at the ball too much.

West Brom’s first big blow to The Potters came in the first half, as Kyle Bartley rose up over Stoke City defenders to bury a header. Later on in the match, the final nail for West Brom came as Brandon Thomas-Asante hit a stunning overhead kick past Jack Bonham to give West Brom a 2-0 lead.

On both goals conceded, Stoke City again made crucial mistakes. On West Brom’s first goal, Stoke City failed to mark their man close enough and show the defensive work-rate needed. Then on the The Baggies second goal, even though Thomas-Asante hit a highlight reel goal, Stoke City failed to clear their lines when the ball was played into the 18-yard box.

From there, as was the case throughout the match, West Brom locked things down defensively. Stoke City for the full 90 minutes were only able to get three of their thirteen attempts on target.

Overall, there’s larger issues brewing at Stoke City. Those issues spread from a lackluster starting XI on most occasions, all the way to needing to get back to the basics. Stoke City will have plenty of time to dissect those issues over the next month before they’re next in action.