Crewe Alex 1-1 Stoke City - 6 Thoughts

It always feels good to step back into Gresty Road a couple of months away. I know it's only a friendly, but its nice to start to get back into the routine of making the short(if you live local) journey to the stadium. Today's game wasn't a classic, but in the Alex's draw with Stoke there was plenty to take away from it. Here are 7 thoughts I had from the encounter:

Squad numbers revealed

The Alex don't usually reveal their squad numbers until later in the pre-season, usually with about a week to go. So it was unusual that we potentially saw them in their 2nd friendly, but I suppose given how short their pre-season schedule is, this was the right time to do it.

Some were mostly standard. Luke Offord was 6, Jordan Gibson took 14, Luca Moore 16 and Patrick Mlynarski 23(until the numbers got ripped off his back). Ryan Chadwick took the number 4, but I suspect that'll be handed to either a new defender or Joe White, probably the latter.

However, there were 2 standouts with the 2 strikers. Josh March and Adrien Thibaut wore 9 and 10 respectively. If Thibaut has been given 10, it's a big statement of confidence in him that he's going to be higher in the pecking order than we first though.

Thibaut = 2nd choice striker?

Talking of Thibaut, I've been stating for the last 3 months that I felt he was the Alex's 3rd choice striker and that they need to be in the market for someone who can properly back up March. However, maybe I've underestimated the Irishman. Whilst it was against the Stoke reserves, he took his goal today very well. He found space and his lovely flicked header found the corner. With him sporting the number 10 shirt, he could well be the main back up to March.

Atmosphere/Money Spinner

Most pre-season games are pretty dead affairs, especially when it comes to atmosphere. And I know Crewe v Stoke has lost some of it's appeal given this is the 3rd time in a row they have faced each other in the last 3 pre-seasons. But today should be a very good example of why both clubs want to keep arranging the games.

First of all, there is a little bit of atmosphere drummed up between the 2 sets of fans, which I think helps make the game more interesting. And 2nd, given the Alex are desperately short of money, this is a much needing money spinner for them, potentially raising roughly £20-30k in ticket sales alone from the 4,000 strong crowd.

It benefits Stoke fans too, as they get to see their side play at the closest EFL ground to them that isn't Port Vale. Some fans might greet this game with a roll of the eyes, but I think it's shown its worthwhile for both clubs to keep it going each pre-season.

Missing Players

There were missing players on both sides that I think Alex fans would have liked to see. The first was Joe White, who was probably not risked due to him being behind in his pre-season training. Hopefully he'll get either minutes at Telford on Tuesday or against Birmingham next Saturday. The others were Stan Dancey, who was at the stadium but not in the squad, and Owen Taylor, who hasn't featured in either of their first 2 friendlies. I'd imagine Dancey is being given time off after playing for the Wales U19s recently, but Taylor is more of a concern. I hope he's not being risked due to a knock/niggle and it's nothing more serious.

On the other side, we were all likely hoping to see Emre Tezgel back on the Gresty Road pitch, even if it was in a pre-season friendly. But Mark Robins opted to bring him along but leave him out, which was an odd decision. Is a return to the Alex possible for Tezgel? Almost certainly not, but stranger things can happen I suppose.

Experiments

The Alex tried a number of different things in this game position wise. Starting a midfield 3 of Tabiner, Holicek and Lunt but having Lunt in the number 10 and the former 2 sat deeper was an interesting choice. It's not the way I would do things, nor do I think those 2 will be the starters come Accrington or Crawley.

Then in the 2nd half, they put trialist Tom HIll at RCB, Croker at LCB and Rankine again at RB. It was a bit of a mess to be honest, as Stoke's subs created several great opportunities that only some last ditch defending prevented being a goal. I wouldn't say anything they tried today was worth pursuing, but I get why they did it.

Fiesty/Injuries

The biggest takeaway from today was that it was far more physical and tempermental than your usual friendly. Stoke came ready to battle in a way Tony Pulis would be proud of. There were some very tasty tackles flying in, including one from Junior Tchamadeu on Owen Lunt that got the Stoke man booked. The game had a little bit of needle, which was good to see.

However, Stoke paid the price for their physicality as they lost Tchamadeu, Djibril Soumaré and Ben Wilmot to injuries. Aww, shame. Enjoy that bottom half finish yet again next season lads.