What Mark Robins said about Million Manhoef’s right foot and Ali Al-Hamadi update..
Talking points as Stoke City run out winners over Queens Park Rangers and produce a confidence-inspiring performance in their battle to pull away from danger..
Bae Junho, Junior Tchamadeu and Million Manhoef fired Stoke City to a vital and impressive win over Queens Park Rangers, pulling themselves to within three points of QPR in the process. Here are the talking points from the bet365 Stadium, starting with that first goal for the club from Tchamadeu.
When Tchamadeu is good he is eye-catchingly good. The 21-year-old right-back is big and strong and he caught this strike beautifully with his left foot before being mobbed by his teammates. He linked up cleverly with Manhoef, appearing behind him, ahead of him, to his right, to his left, and was keen to get the ball into the box early. It’s like good old-fashioned full-back play.
Mark Robins has stripped back his role a little and got him playing to his strengths but he has to keep him developing and make him consistent too.
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“Let’s take it steady because he’s a young player,” said the manager. “He was trying to get off the pitch for about half of it! That’s one thing. He miraculously recovered when I said he was in tomorrow if he had any doubt over his injury so… He can’t come in injured on Monday either because that will be a fine…
“He’s got a lot of good attributes and he’s got to keep working. There are things that he doesn’t get right but he knows that. The fact he’s willing to work and run the way he does, today was a really stand out performance and that has to be a level he has to try to maintain and try to raise all the time.
“The levels of each individual is starting to go up. The level of training was up this week. The players coming back in are making that easier to achieve and we’ve got to keep doing it, keep fighting, keep embracing what we’re doing.”
Million Manhoef’s two feet
The last time Robins had held a post-match press conference at Stoke, after the Blackburn win, he had touched on Manhoef being a nuisance who “had to learn to take what he’s given”. In other words, he was being shown onto his right foot but still trying to come inside into the two men who were trying to block the path on his left.
This time, QPR set up like they knew what to expect. Lucas Andersen was positioning himself for Manhoef to cut inside and Manhoef stunned him and pretty much the whole crowd by just running into the vast space on other side. He did it again a couple of minutes later. With the first chance, he hit the bar, with the second he forced a
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