Rival manager affirms his assessment of Stoke City and predicts that they will succeed “when they gel”
David Wagner, the manager of Norwich City, has been commenting on Stoke as he gets ready for a midweek matchup with Leicester.
In several of his post-game interviews, David Wagner emphasized to the Norwich press corps that a victory over Stoke City shouldn’t be taken lightly. He has reiterated that as he discussed a midweek encounter against early Championship leaders Leicester at Carrow Road.
When the 17 new players Alex Neil brought in during a busy summer transfer window start to settle in and find their footing, Wagner anticipates seeing Stoke move up towards the top of the standings.
He mentioned this afternoon that Stoke have a lot of unique qualities. “They will cluster at the top of the table when they have gelled. The fact that we accomplished it once more in front of our home supporters makes it significant for us.
It will be Neil Warnock’s final game in command of the home team when Stoke returns to play on Wednesday with another away encounter at Huddersfield Town. Five of the Potters’ seven games during the three weeks between international breaks will be on the road, making it a challenging little stretch.
There is optimism within the organization that the team has been constructed well enough to be more than competitive this season, but the injuries to Ki-Jana Hoever, Enda Stevens, Ryan Mmaee, and Andre Vidigal—four likely starts at Norwich—on top of all the other alterations weren’t helpful.
In a club-released video, technical director Ricky Martin stated: “We probably need a period between now and the next international break to settle everyone down, to get into a rhythm and ideally find some good form, to hopefully avoid injuries within the team. The manager’s choice will thereafter be based on players in various positions.
“In all of our announcements, we’ve discussed signing players for the Championship’s many dynamics, which include a wide variety of playing styles. I believe that is what the group have. We’re hoping to find some form, put on some strong performances, and progress before the upcoming international break. Beyond that, I’m not even looking. Up until October, we have a lot of games, and after that, I’ll do reviews.
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