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The Potters have continued in their inconsistent start to the season and are yet to find their best form so far. In the five Premier League matches played in October and November, they won twice, lost twice and drew once, not forgetting their Capital One Cup misfortune at home to <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/category/southampton/">Southampton</a>. The mixed results have seen Stoke go up and down the table, but they are perched in 9th place at the moment.
Best starting XI
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Best performer
Victor Moses. The on-loan Chelsea winger has continued to register good displays for his side in almost every single match. His direct pace and dribbling ability – only bettered by Eden Hazard – makes him a constant threat and fun to watch. Always looking to wreak havoc on the opposition, Moses will be key to his team’s fortunes this season. The rumor is that Stoke are keen to secure a permanent deal in January.
Most improved player
Bojan Kirkic. The 24-year-old Spaniard has endured a disappointing start to the season but he has shown signs of a renaissance in recent matches, especially against West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur where he put in man of the match performances. With the striker scoring his first Premier League goal at Spurs last Sunday, the expectation is that he can only get better in the coming weeks. Jon Walters also deserves a special mention after a massive improvement from him in the past few games.
Injury news
Mark Hughes’ side remain handicapped with several players on the treatment table. Peter Odemwingie is the major casualty and he will be out for an estimated seven months after sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury in September. Other casualties include Robert Huth, Glen Whelan, Phil Bardsley, Marc Wilson and D Teixeira all of whom are expected to have returned to action by the end of the month.&nbsp;
Managerial progress&nbsp;
Hughes has not done a lot wrong so far this season and I think he’s still the right man to lead the team to prosper, despite a not-so-convincing start to their 2014-15 campaign. He just needs to get his side to finding that consistency going forward, but that remains to be seen especially with games against <a href="https://worldsoccertalk.cms.futbolsitesnetwork.com/category/liverpool/">Liverpool</a>, Arsenal and Manchester United on the horizon.
Weakness
Set-pieces. I mentioned this in my August-September report and apparently, nothing has changed since then. The Potters are the only team yet to score a league goal via a set-piece which shows how much the team has evolved since Mark Hughes came on the scene last year. Maybe they ought to get someone like Roy Delap in January.
January Transfer window needs
Stoke already have a fairly decent squad, especially going forward, so I see no reason to plunge into the January transfer market except if there’s another long-term injury.
Overall Team Rating (out of 5 stars):&nbsp;2.5/5.
It’s been a decent season thus far for Stoke, who many would consider a top half team nowadays. With attacking talent on display and that typically resilient defense they should be aiming for yet another highly credible top 10 finish.

Read Our Progress Report on Stoke City's Performances for October-November

Read Our Progress Report on Stoke City's Performances for October-November - World Soccer Talk

<div id="attachment_3279" style="width: 510px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><a href="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/04/Inter-Milan-Player-Celebrations.jpg"><div><figure class="external-image"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3279" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3279" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/04/Inter-Milan-Player-Celebrations.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333"></figure></div></a>Diego Milito, Iván Córdoba, and Wesley Sneijder celebrate their passage to the Champions League final.</div>
The sprinklers rose up from the pitch and sprayed the Inter Milan players and staff.&nbsp; The Barcelona anthem, “Cant del Barça,” blared through the loudspeakers as the Culés did not know whether to clap off their Blaugrana heroes or vehemently whistle at the unwanted visitors from northern Italy.&nbsp; This sense of confusion permeated throughout the Camp Nou after referee Frank de Bleeckere blew the whistle for fulltime, but two things were certain: FC Internazionale Milano would face Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, and FC Barcelona would not.
Inter manager José Mourinho fueled the fire, in typical Mourinho fashion, in the pre-match press conference when he spoke of Barcelona’s ambition to compete in the Champions League final in Madrid:
<blockquote>“We (Inter Milan) have the dream of winning the Champions League, and for Barcelona, it’s an obsession.&nbsp; This is the difference.&nbsp; A dream is purer than an obsession.&nbsp; There is pride in a dream, anywhere in the world.&nbsp; For Barcelona, it was a dream to reach the final in Rome, but to reach the final at the Bernabéu is an obsession for them.”</blockquote>
If this quote were analyzed on its own grounds, very few people would know what the hell he was talking about; however, Mourinho’s ingenuity for creating distractions away from his team and onto himself has served him well with his previous teams.&nbsp; FC Porto and Chelsea put up with his antics because they worked.&nbsp; This formula seemed to sour at Inter Milan, where the Italian press were unimpressed with his brash personality, and even Inter president Massimo Moratti started to suffer from Mourinho fatigue.

With the 3-1 triumph at the San Siro in the first leg of the Champions League semifinals against Barcelona, Mourinho had free reign, and his quote struck a chord with Barça and its fans like no other manager could accomplish.&nbsp; They immediately went on the defensive.
Some Barcelona supporters reportedly attacked Mourinho’s car after the press conference, punching the windows, throwing various paraphernalia, and attempting to topple the car on its side.
Barça TV, the club’s television channel, created an advertisement where various Barcelona players promised to “leave their skins” on the Camp Nou pitch to audibly declare their intentions on Wednesday night, accompanying the shirts they displayed after they beat Xerez on Saturday which showed the message, “Nos vamos a dejar la piel,” (We will leave our skin).
Another section of Barcelona fans tried to disrupt the sleep of the Inter players Tuesday night into the early hours of Wednesday morning outside of their team hotel, making constant noise with drum, horns, and firecrackers.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta gave his rebuttal to Mourinho’s “obsession” quote, stating that anyone who assesses Barcelona as obsessive is a second-rate psychologist.
A strong reaction from many arms of the Barça establishment, but why?&nbsp; There is no doubt that José Mourinho can get under the skin (no pun intended) of his opposition, but whenever all of this huffing and puffing occurs, usually it means that there is doubt, and they engage in all of this extracurricular activity to convince themselves otherwise.
When Barcelona traveled to Stamford Bridge in last year’s Champions League semifinal second leg without scoring at the Camp Nou, this same rah-rah fervor did not exist prior to the match.&nbsp; Although it took a 93rd minute goal by Andrés Iniesta to slug past Chelsea into the final, the confidence that Barcelona had of breaking through a resolute Chelsea defense was enough for them.
Although they only needed to score once at Stamford Bridge last season, a 2-0 result at the Camp Nou, even against a José Mourinho defense, was not an impossible situation by any stretch.&nbsp; All of the extraneous motivation mentioned above was inconsistent with this team and teemed with a desperation not seen since the end of the Frank Rijkaard era.
When the players took to the pitch at 20:45 CET, the choreographed displays of the Catalunyan flag from each goal side and a Barça trophy resplendent in garnet, yellow, and blue from the sideline stands would inspire the most jaded of players.&nbsp; Not only the Barcelona players, but the Inter Milan players who would want nothing more than to spoil Barcelona’s magnificent run since the origins of the Pep Guardiola regime.
With Carles Puyol suspended for this match, Gabriel Milito was expected to deputize in central defense, but Guardiola threw a wrench with Milito starting at left back and Touré Yaya in central defense.&nbsp; In the first leg, most of Inter’s successful attacking moves originated down the right flank, and they took advantage of Maxwell’s constant forward runs and left him out of position for Maicon, Samuel Eto’o, and Wesley Sneijder to perform their duties.
For Inter Milan, yellow cards became their main concern, as, save for Lúcio, the rest of the back four was one yellow card away from missing the final should they reach that stage.&nbsp; The burning question lingered about whether Maicon, Walter Samuel, and Javier Zanetti would be hesitant to throw themselves into challenges, knowing that one late tackle could mean suspension from the biggest match of their careers.&nbsp; Ask Roy Keane and Paul Scholes, who missed the 1999 final when Manchester United completed their astonishing two-goal turnaround in stoppage time against Bayern Munich.&nbsp; According to Keane, “Although I was putting a brave face on it, this (missing the final) was just about the worst experience I’d had in football.”
Inter clearly frustrated Barcelona through the first twenty-seven minutes, ceding nearly 80% of the possession but allowing nothing to bother their goalkeeper Júlio César.&nbsp; Then the inevitable controversy ensued when Frank de Bleeckere sent off former Barça player Thiago Motta for a hand to the face of Sergio Busquets.&nbsp; As the modern game would dictate, Busquets reacted as though he suffered a knockout blow from Mike Tyson.&nbsp; He had the audacity to take a peek at de Bleeckere to see if he flashed a card before “regaining his senses,” and he accomplished exactly what he set out to do when Motta raised his hand to his face.
Understandably, Motta could not believe the decision and needed to be held back not from de Bleeckere but from Busquets.&nbsp; A harsh decision by de Bleeckere, but if the roles were reversed, Motta would have likely done the same thing and also try to coax that red card.
Until Gerard Piqué scored in the 84th minute, however, Barça’s one-man advantage appeared irrelevant, as Inter Milan continued to clear any ball that entered their penalty area.&nbsp; Júlio César made a spectacular diving, fingertip save on a Lionel Messi curler, and Bojan Krkic missed an absolute certainty of a header two minutes before Piqué’s goal, but the vast majority of Barça’s attempts on goal were fired from the twenty-five to thirty-five yard distances, nothing that would seriously trouble Júlio César.
More newsworthy than Barça’s lack of cutting edge involved the substitution of Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the 63rd minute in favor of Bojan Krkic.&nbsp; With twenty-seven minutes on the clock, there remained plenty of time to score the necessary two goals, but Pep Guardiola believed Bojan had a better chance of galvanizing the offense than Ibrahimovic.&nbsp; Ibrahimovic’s reputation had been linked to his shrinking violet act in the most important moments for both club and country, and his listless performance against Inter Milan will do him no favors in shaking this reputation.
The last ten minutes became purely riveting, as the siege on Inter’s goal had actual consequences, and when Bojan appeared to net the clinching goal in the first minute of stoppage time, the city of Barcelona actually lifted from the ground, but Frank de Bleeckere blew his whistle before Bojan’s goal transpired for a handball on Touré Yaya.
No one claimed any doubt that Touré Yaya did not intentionally handle the ball, as Walter Samuel smashed his clearance straight into Yaya’s tucked arm from less than three yards away, but that call always goes against the attacking team and in favor of the defending team.&nbsp; If that same situation happened, where the offensive player kicked the ball into the defensive player’s tucked arms in their own penalty area, the referee would rightfully continue play because the handball was unintentional.
<a href="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/04/Barcelona-Champions-League-Loss.jpg"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3281" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/04/Barcelona-Champions-League-Loss.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="311"></figure></div></a>Barcelona did not do enough on the pitch, and their 1-0 result might be their most hollow victory in many years.&nbsp; Legitimate questions will be asked about this Barça team.&nbsp; Would Andrés Iniesta have made the difference between advancing and failing?&nbsp; Does Pep Guardiola need to develop an alternate plan when the opposition decides to employ ten men behind the ball?&nbsp; Did Barcelona miss the inspiration of their captain, Carles Puyol, even though Inter Milan made little to no suggestion of troubling the Barça defense?&nbsp; Was the Ibrahimovic for Eto’o swap a potential bust?
All of these inquiries will either never be answered or answered over time, but now they must focus on their tenuous one point lead over Real Madrid in La Liga.&nbsp; Failing to reach the Champions League final in Madrid hurts, but if Barcelona cannot hold on to the La Liga crown after having at least a share of the lead for all but a couple weeks of the season, this potentially historic team will become just another good team that played nice football.
<a href="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/04/Jose-Mourinho-Champions-League.jpg"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3283" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2010/04/Jose-Mourinho-Champions-League.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="368"></figure></div></a>As for now, they will seethe over José Mourinho, pejoratively referred to as “The Interpreter” in Barcelona, and how he defiantly pointed to the crowd in revelry after his Inter Milan team achieved for what they set out.&nbsp; Mourinho deserved to do whatever he wanted, however, because he earned it.&nbsp; He slew the beast.&nbsp; Those windmills were actual giants, and he defeated the enchanter.&nbsp; Joan Laporta, Pep Guardiola, and the rest of the Blaugrana nation will look internally soon enough, but this pain that they will have to put away in time for Villarreal on Saturday stings much more than the joy they felt from any of their six trophies from a year ago.

Inter Milan Completes The Italian Job on Barcelona in the Champions League

Inter Milan Completes The Italian Job on Barcelona in the Champions League - World Soccer Talk

<div id="attachment_1762" style="width: 530px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><div><figure class="external-image"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1762" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-1762" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/6/files/2009/09/Zlatan-Ibrahimovic.jpg" alt="Par2745035" width="520" height="301"></figure></div>Ibrahimovic scores in his first La Liga game</div>
Writer’s Note: Unfortunately, WordPress does not recognize the “c” with an accent mark, so Bojan Krkic and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s names will not include an accent mark above the ” c.”
It is easy to overreact and overanalyze after one match and assume that whatever happens in that match will become a trend throughout the season; therefore, in evaluating Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s performance in the Barcelona – Sporting Gijón match on Monday night, hyperbole will not be the overall sentiment of this piece.
As for the match itself, Barcelona never let Sporting Gijón play, and Sporting did not really seem interested in retrieving the ball back from Barcelona.&nbsp; Barça had 74% of the possession in each half, but uncharacteristically, Barça constructed their three goals from corner kicks rather than from open play.&nbsp; Bojan Krkic, deputizing for Thierry Henry, who Pep Guardiola decided to rest after playing in the UEFA Super Cup on Friday, performed at a high level with a goal and numerous individual runs that menaced the Sporting defense all night long.&nbsp; While Bojan brought the Camp Nou to its feet, Seydou Keita was the man of the match with his tireless work rate in the midfield and his ability to get his head onto free kicks and crosses.&nbsp; His near post flick on from a corner kick in the 18th minute directly led to Bojan’s headed goal on the back post, his header from a corner kick in the 42nd minute scored the second goal for Barcelona, and another header in the 67th minute hit the post.&nbsp; While Barcelona did not produce the sparkling display of football like most expect them to do on every occasion, they took the belief out of Sporting and thus could play around with the ball for ninety minutes.
With Thierry Henry resting and Lionel Messi in Argentina preparing for World Cup qualifying against Brazil, the limelight was squarely focused on Zlatan Ibrahimovic and how he would fare in his first match in the blaugrana shirt.&nbsp; With Pedro Rodríguez on his right and Bojan Krkic on his left, Ibrahimovic had more than capable forwards on the wings, but they were not Henry or Messi.&nbsp; His first significant touch came in the fourth minute when Pedro sent him a through ball into the box, which got him behind the Sporting defense; however, he was positioned at an acute angle and he scuffed his shot trying to blast it past Sporting goalkeeper Juan Pablo.&nbsp; In the 30th minute, he made a run into the box and faked a shot, causing two defenders to go to ground in anticipation.&nbsp; Open for the shot, he tried a cute, swerved shot towards the near post, and Juan Pablo saved it easily.&nbsp; A diagonal run in the 40th minute set up a shot for Ibrahimovic, but Juan Pablo made a routine save.&nbsp; In the first half, Ibrahimovic seemed a bit sluggish and lax in attack, but that could be directly attributed to his lack of match fitness.&nbsp; He injured his hand while on a US tour with Inter Milan and did not play a competitive match until the Joan Gamper Trophy against Manchester City on August 19.
Ibrahimovic raised his energy level and involved himself more into the attack in the second half.&nbsp; In the 66th minute, Eric Abidal sent a long ball to the edge of the penalty area, and Alberto Botía, a central defender on loan to Sporting from Barcelona, harassed Ibrahimovic, but he was able to fight him off and restart the attack.&nbsp; His willingness to scrap and clash with the defense gave a rise to the Barça faithful.&nbsp; In the 74th minute, on an average cross by Pedro, Ibrahimovic was able to rise over Botía and deliver a solid header, but it headed toward Juan Pablo’s grateful hands.&nbsp; Pedro’s cross hung in the air, so Ibrahimovic had to supply most of the power for the header, and he accomplished that feat quite well.&nbsp; His aerial ability is one of the attributes that differentiated Ibrahimovic from his predecessor Samuel Eto’o.
Then in the 82nd minute, Ibrahimovic scored his first goal for Barça.&nbsp; On another corner kick, Xavi took it short to Dani Alves, and after he crossed the ball into the box, it took a slight deflection off Sporting defender Grégory’s head, and Ibrahimovic executed the diving header at the back post to perfection.&nbsp; It was almost a carbon copy of the first Barcelona goal where Seydou Keita’s near-post flick sent the ball to the back post, and Bojan headed home the opening score.&nbsp; It was not the most attractive goal he has ever scored, but at that moment, it must have been sweet for him to score in his first match for Barça.
There were a few flashes of brilliance by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, including the goal late in the contest, but he will not be putting this performance in his scrapbook of the best ninety minutes in his career.&nbsp; The chemistry among his fellow forwards lacked that something extra, but anyone expecting the gears to shift seamlessly in the first match hold unrealistic expectations.&nbsp; While he did not play his best, scoring in his first match was important because now he does not have to face the pressure of a goal drought to start his season.&nbsp; Ibrahimovic would admit that he still needs time to adapt to life in Spain and the Barça system.&nbsp; When the international break concludes and Henry and Messi join Ibrahimovic in attack for a string of games, Pep Guardiola will see if the infinite attacking potential of this trio will culminate into consecutive La Liga titles.&nbsp; A straightforward win and an Ibrahimovic goal is just the start that Barcelona needed to launch a successful La Liga campaign.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: A Mixed Bag in Barcelona's 3-0 Victory over Sporting Gijón

Zlatan Ibrahimovic: A Mixed Bag in Barcelona's 3-0 Victory over Sporting Gijón - World Soccer Talk

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