After ending his reign of terror against Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, with his first home defeat in eight matches, Stoke manager Mark Hughes will go back to the drawing board after a disappointing 4-1 defeat at the bet365 stadium.
At 2-1 following a controversial Peter Crouch handball goal, who also loves playing against Arsenal, Stoke were on the ascendency and the stadium was rocking as the fans looked to give their side the boost the players needed to get back in the game.
But the game was put beyond any doubt with a Alexis Sánchez goal and French striker Olivier Giroud notching his second of the match.
Reflecting on the thumping defeat, Hughes admitted to the ?Stoke official website that in hindsight he should have taken a different approach after Crouch scored to attack Arsenal when their tails were down, perhaps even starting the game in that way. The Welsh boss said:
“Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but to be perfectly honest maybe I should have gone for a more direct approach from the off.
“We obviously enjoyed our most productive period of the game after we changed things around a little bit, and for a time we had Arsenal rattled.
“Crouchy certainly shook things up for us and gave us a more potent threat, and yes, maybe I should have gone with him from the start and just gone for it a little bit more.
“At 2-1 we were very much in the game, the crowd were right behind us and that was a huge help for us.
Despite the demoralising defeat, Hughes has already moved on from their latest loss and is already planning for next season, with possible changes on the horizon. He added:
“There are one or two things we need to look at in the summer and there are one or two key decisions to make in terms of personnel.
“We have let ourselves down on occasions this season, especially in the matches against the top six or seven sides.
“We know we haven’t performed well enough in those games and that is something we have to address, which I am certain we will.”
The defeat to Arsenal would’ve hurt the Stoke players deeply, as they know they can perform better, especially at home.
But on reflection they have had another comfortable season in the Premier League as they currently hover around the mid-table position. If Hughes can add well in the market and work more on structure in pre-season, they could possibly push for a European place next season.
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