“It just makes sense” – Stoke City: Narcis Pelach urged to make one vital change to team v Norwich City
This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Terrace Talk’ series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
Narcis Pelach will be hoping to see an improvement from his Stoke City side on Saturday when they welcome Norwich City to the bet365 Stadium.
The Potters were held to a 0-0 draw against Swansea City just before the international break, a far cry from the clinic that they put on in their last home match, as they cruised past Portsmouth in a dominant 6-1 victory.
Tom Cannon was the four-goal hero in that Wednesday evening clash, and fans will want to see the striker add to his season tally against the Canaries this weekend.
It has been difficult to read just how well Pelach has done since taking on the role as Stoke manager in September, with the team struggling with inconsistency both at home and on the road.
Nevertheless, the 36-year-old has now had a month to get to grips with his side, and supporters will be hoping to see their side start winning on a more frequent basis, but tests do not come much tougher than Norwich right now, and Pelach has to be perfect with his team selection to come out of the game with all three points.
Pelach looks likely to be forced into one change
As the season develops, injuries will start to mount and become an issue for teams across not only the Championship, but the entirety of the EFL. It is an issue that has already had an impact on one of Stoke’s summer signings, with Sam Gallagher potentially set to miss Saturday’s game.
The forward missed the start of the campaign due to a calf issue picked up on his debut in pre-season, and did not make it back into the matchday squad for the first six matches of 2024/25.
Since then, he has started twice, coming off the bench in his first league match as a Potters player, but picked up a slight hamstring injury in the draw with the Swans.
Football League World’s Stoke Fan Pundit, Sam Harrison, believes that this could be the only change made from the starting XI on that day in South Wales.
He told FLW: “One change that I think will be an enforced change is Sam Gallagher being unavailable for this game. He picked up a bit of an injury in the Swansea game, and it looks like they’re not going to rush him straight in. It looks like he is still recovering, so obviously, he’ll be someone who will be replaced.
“So with that, I’m looking at who or how Narcis Pelach may look to fill in that gap and I reckon it will be Million Manhoef, who, of course, was on the bench against Swansea. I think he’ll come straight in, and I think it will be similar to where he played when we lost to Hull City 3-1.”
Sam continued: “I think Manhoef will play in behind Tom Cannon. Out of possession, it is a 4-4-2 where Cannon and Manhoef will be playing beside each other, but in possession, he will probably drop deeper to get on the ball, get us moving up the pitch and start working his magic, which obviously he was able to produce in the first half against Hull.
“So that’s the change that I reckon is most likely to happen, especially with Sam Gallagher being injured. It just makes sense for Manhoef to come in and play in the position that we’ve already seen him in against Hull, so I imagine that Pelach will look to do that against Norwich.”
Gallagher’s injury issues will be a cause for concern
While it is still early days in his Stoke career, there will be some worries over the amount of time he has already missed on the pitch due to injuries.
Gallagher cost the Potters a reported £1.5 million, and continuously missing matches will be irritating for the hierarchy at the bet365 Stadium, who perhaps expected more from the 29-year-old so far.
