Stoke City players are still getting to grips with what new boss Narcis Pelach is asking of them
Narcis Pelach intends to steadily improve the fitness levels of his inherited Stoke City squad in the coming weeks and months in order to ensure the players are fully capable of carrying out exactly what his approach to matches demands. Pelach took over from Steven Schumacher last month and has collected five points from his first five games.
Still getting to know the personnel at his disposal, both personally and in a footballing sense, Pelach recognises that he possesses a youthful group as a result of the recruitment drive overseen in the summer by the club, which secured loan moves for four promising players, all of whom are contracted to Premier League clubs.
Stoke took on Norwich on Saturday and produced an energetic showing as they battled their way to a 1-1 draw. Tonight, against Bristol City, they’ll face a task similar in the sense that the opposition arriving at the Bet365 Stadium generally like having the ball and they’ll test the Potters’ intense pressing game.
For that to be rolled out on a consistent basis, and for players to be able to go again and again in the midst of a testing schedule, Pelach will work with the staff at the club and the players themselves in a multitude of areas – from work on the training pitch to the nutritional side of a footballer’s preparation – to maximise their capabilities.
“I don’t look at what happened before I came, because I don’t think I’m in a position to talk – and I respect a lot my colleagues, Steven and his staff,” Pelach said of what he’d inherited. “I respect all of the coaches, we play in a different way, we do different things depending on our backgrounds and the way we feel the game.
“I don’t want to talk about whether it was good or bad, because I don’t know, basically. For what we’re trying to do, we need to get better from the fitness point of view. It’s very demanding, I know that. I did it in Spain and the numbers were through the roof. At Huddersfield, we ran the most in 21-22 when we went to Wembley. The style of play was really similar.
“At Norwich, we were one of the sides who were running the most, as were Middlesbrough. I expect Stoke City to be a very energetic side, and I think it’s been clear in these days and these games that the team really goes. We have to look after every detail we can, in terms of food, gym, preparation and the mindset point of view.
“From the technical point of view, and tactically, mentally, physically, it’s very demanding, but it’s how I see the game. It’s how I live life and it’s what I want to see everyday. I don’t want to coach a team that doesn’t represent me, I’m very clear on that. I want to see that energy in every single second of every game.
“The players are on board with that, they want to be this. We have a way, we have no doubts about that. It will take time, I know. We cannot build it in two or three months, because it is so demanding, but we have to try and build it as much as possible.”
Pelach has a track record for making up a staff at various clubs previously which built their ideologies on the basis of supreme fitness levels. He acknowledges there is no magic wand in this sense but believes, in time, he can improve Stoke on various levels, related to performance and fitness. For now, he’s meeting the squad in the middle and is basing his coaching around their traits and strengths.
“I am a coach who adapts to what I have,” he added. “I am not a coach who goes and does what I want to do. I had a look what Stoke had a month ago, and thought this is the style of play that I thought could work, with the players Stoke have. I don’t go to Stoke and try and do my own thing – I don’t have this ego, I’m not selfish. My background…I come from nowhere in Spain. I have needed to fight for every single thing.
“I want to adapt to what Stoke has. I think we can create this hardworking club, this hardworking team in order to be very difficult to beat and I feel positive about that. It hasn’t been that many games, we need to see more, but we’re doing things. The journey is long and there’ll be moments when we’ll need to adapt – but I want to send the message that we’re not Barcelona.
“We don’t go and do what we want and everyone must change because of us. We are adapting, depending on the opponent. Sometimes we might have to press more, sometimes we might have to sit, this is what we’re doing with the squad that we have. I want to be successful and win games.”
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