Is this the right fit, and other questions raised by Cameron’s Stoke move

Jul 13, 2012, 7:35 PM EDT

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Geoff Cameron’s about to make the big leap to England, finishing a meteoric rise from Major League Soccer second round draft pick to Premier League (as Steve detailed here). Stoke is, however, a very specific type of team under Tony Pulis, known for a hard-edge pragmatism that’s built around brawn at the back, direct play in transition, and the reliance on size and strength for goals.

The symptoms:

In 2011-12, Stoke was the only team in the Premier League to score more set piece than open play goals (16 to 14);
They were last in the league in shots per game (9.9) and shots on target (2.5);
And they were the only team in the league to post more than 10 percent of their shots from inside six yards (16 percent; Manchester United second with nine percent);
Stoke was the only team to average less than 40 percent of Opta possession (39.9);
They had the worst passing completion percentage in the league (69.5);
And recorded the fewest interceptions per game (12.1).

Basically, they played like a big, slow squad incapable of keeping or winning the ball. Which they were.

Stoke has devoted too many squad spots to interchangeable forwards who lack diversity. The defense corps are all similar: Central defenders, enough of whom have the minimal versatility to play elsewhere. Their forwards are a series of target men who, like their defensive counterparts, might do enough to serve as an ill-cast number 10s.

It leaves the team with only one way to play. Having devoted too many resources to collecting center halves and number nines, Stoke’s lack of midfield talent inhibits their ability to influence any match.

That’s the situation Cameron’s being pulled into, raising four questions as to how this transfer will immediately play out:

1. Can Cameron crack Stoke’s defensive depth?

Stoke’s back four seemed set: Robert Huth, Ryan Shawcross, Matthew Upson and Andy Wilkinson (with Mark Wilson thrown in), all players who profile as central defenders. It’s an approach that’s generally helped Tony Pulis meet minimal expectations: Start four central defenders along the back, and let size be your advantage.

Huth and Shawcross are locks. Upson is hurt enough to where Cameron could get time, though don’t expect a healthy Upson to sit. Even if he does, Wilson’s more likely to get the call, playing at left back while Huth moves in (from right back). Time on the right could be taken from Wilkinson, but Ryan Shotton’s as likely to get it as Cameron.

If Danny Higginbotham returns to health and form, Cameron will have another obstacle for playing time off the bench.

2. Will midfield enter the picture?

It was a common question at MLS Cup in November: Do you see yourself as a defender, now? Cameron didn’t seem ready to give up him midfield identity. He was starting to get used to the idea of being a defender (he said), and his USMNT future depended on that adjustment, but you could tell: He still thought he could make an impact in the middle.

Will that versatility tempt Pulis? Wilson, a player who has similar versatility (though plays as a full back in defense, not a central defender), has at times been used in central midfield since moving from Portsmouth in January 2011. Last year, injuries kept him at the back, but even during his days at Pompey, Wilson provided a valuable midfield option for coaches who wanted to indulge their conservative side.

Could Pulis use Wilson and Cameron as a way to get six defenders onto the field? With Ryan Shotton on the right, that number could go as high as seven. Who knows with this Stoke team? Whereas two years ago they seemed to be embracing a less brutal approach, now Pulis has the personnel to play to the extremes.

It worked when Stoke first came up, and after struggling last season, perhaps the Potters are ready to relent: This is what we are.

3. What does Stoke’s style of play mean for Cameron?

One thing Cameron does well, especially for a defender: play with the ball at his feet. He’s not Thiago Silva or Mats Hummels, but his years as a midfielder leave him highly skilled for a central defender.

One thing Stoke’s players (let alone defenders) don’t do: play with the ball at their feet. In terms of holding, passing, protecting and retrieving the ball, they were amongst the worst in the Premier League, data that hits at a beguiling vortex between style and talent.

Particularly with the approach Jurgen Klinsmann’s trying to implement with the national team, you have to wonder if Stoke is a good fit. Even if Cameron does get valuable playing time in England, that playing time may instill bad habits.

4. And what does this mean for Cameron’s national team future?

On the surface, it seems like a given: Cameron’s time in England can only help. Right?

I’m not so sure. If, at this crucial stage of his development, Cameron goes to Stoke and absorbs too much of the Potters’ approach, he could be develop into a more limited player than Klinsmann would like from his center halves – a player more on the Oguchi Onyewu than Carlos Bocanegra path. Gooch was a stalwart under Bob Bradley. Under Klinsmann, he seems miscast.

And that assumes Cameron plays. The competition to get into the team should only help him, and if he does break into Tony Pulis’s starting XI, he will provide a dimension Stoke’s defense desperately needs.

If Pulis embraces those dimensions and incorporates them into a more progressive approach, Cameron’s move should only help his quest to claim the spot next to Bocanegra in Jurgen Klinsmann’s defense.

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11 Comments (Feed for Comments)

drmonkeyarmy - Jul 13, 2012 at 8:24 PM

Bad habits would be a concern for me….like turning into a thug like that hatchet man Shawcross. I hate the way Stoke plays. I really do. Long balls and beating the hell out of the opponent mixed with dirty tactics and play.

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joeyt360 - Jul 13, 2012 at 8:37 PM

Another wild stat that reinforces the point: EVERY team that finished below Stoke in the table–that’s 6 teams–scored MORE goals than Stoke did. ‘Hang on for dear life’ was obviously this club’s motto.

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schmutzdeck - Jul 13, 2012 at 9:16 PM

Well, Cameron doesn’t have to go. If he is so worried about turning into a thug then he can stay in MLS for the rest of his career and be a poorer thug . All I will say is the best thugs I have seen have quite a lot of skill. Good defenders in Europe and the UK all have to understand the physical side of things, the “nasty” element JK asked for. If Cameron is smart he will at the very least pick up on that. After all Jay Demerit did.

If you look at the Yanks who have succeeded abroad they all have one thing in common, a club that really wants them, and has a role for them to fill.

Was this Pulis’ idea? If so, it is a good thing. Or did someone force this inexpensive, value for money used Craigslist bargain buy on him- ” here see if you can make something out of this, If you can’t no worries, it did not cost us much anyway”.

Where is the intrepid US soccer investigative reporter? Can’t you guys even figure out whose idea at Stoke it was to buy Cameron?

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stokieuk - Jul 14, 2012 at 3:51 AM

Wow! I see that the Stoke bashing is not just reserved for the English press!

How easy and lazy for a ‘journalist’ to just look at black & white facts without seeing the bigger picture. The same journo that could not even be bothered to research what our starting line up was for 95% of our games last year! Even a quick Wiki lookup would reveal that Wilson played 44 games at left back last season….

Ask Stoke fans if they were happy with quantity of goals scored last season and I doubt any of them will say yes. There were however extenuating circumstances. Not least the shear amount of games played in the league, Europa (following a successful season that this journo cannot be botched to tell you about) qualifiers, Europa group games (qualification followed) 2 more games against the impressive Valencia, league cup and progression to the latter stages of our FA Cup. On top of that, the European cup games were played on Thursdays away in the Ukraine, Turkey, etc to then hotfoot back for an away game in our league on the Sunday. This affected our players – maybe it shouldn’t but it did.

We also had off the field personnel issues that I sincerely hope are now sorted.

Say what you like about Tony Pulis (I’m guessing that you are closet arsenal fan) but he knows his defenders and WILL improve Cameron if given the chance. No doubts in my mind that Cameron would be a better player for USA if Pulis gets hold of him.

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- Richard Farley - Jul 14, 2012 at 4:29 AM
  
  Sorry you feel that way. Obviously, the post contains tons of stats at the top. Sorry those don’t paint the rosiest picture. Objective data – who knew?
  
  The one thing I wanted to address is the Mark Wilson part. I knew Wilson played most of Stoke’s games at left back last year, hence the parenthetical on the “all set” graph. Will Wilson stay at LB when Upson is healthy? If Upson is healthy? Possibly, given Wilson was the choice much of last season when Upson was able to play. But Wilson’s name is obviously in the most.
  
  You’re clearly a Stoke supporter, which is great, but just wanted to clarify on that point. The rest of your post … obviously speaks for itself.
  
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  - stokieuk - Jul 14, 2012 at 5:07 AM
    
    Stats can paint any picture that the author chooses. Arsenal will point at success upon success but in actual fact they have won bugger all for a decade or more. Stoke have done well since entering the premiership but I guess you are only as good as your last season?
    
    Upson did great for us when called upon but he is not a left back and I cannot ever recall him playing there for us. He plays left sided centre half and he is very good cover in that position. Shawcross & Huth are not the greatest centre halfs in the premiership BUT they have a very good relationship and understand each others game/cover each other very well. For that reason, Cameron will not force himself into those positions.
    
    There is talk of Upson (who is in the twilight of his career) leaving for Southampton. Personally I’d keep him as a squad player.
    
    Wilson (who is a right footed ‘ball player’) should be playing in midfield for us but Pulis has such a lack of quality a left back that he is doing a ‘job’ there for us.
    
    A midfield of a settled Pennant, fit Palacios, Marc Wilson (or Cameron) & Etherington will create more than enough chances / goals to ram those stats down the critics throats.
  - Richard Farley - Jul 14, 2012 at 5:37 AM
    
    Nobody said anything about Upson playing left back, and hopefully that midfield you describe does improve Stoke. Huth played 12 games at RB last year, 11 the year before. In the past, that’s meant Wilkinson goes left. Regardless (and as you note), the field is crowded for Cameron (exactly the point of number one, above).
    
    The Potters were horribly dire last year, and for their fans’ sake, I hope they improve. You might argue with the stats, but they paint a pretty accurate picture of just how bad the team was on the ball. Just by regression to the mean alone, Stoke should be better, but only if Pulis wakes up and stops trying to bludgeon his way through league.
    
    Acquiring Peter Crouch seemed to revert Tony Pulis back to 2009-10. He needs to re-find the ambition he had when fully utilizing Etherington and Pennant.
  - joeyt360 - Jul 15, 2012 at 7:05 PM
    
    “Stats can paint any picture that the author chooses.”
    
    They can’t paint the picture of Stoke having a potent offense, now, can they?
    
    Even going back to 2011, Stoke was better at not allowing goals, relative to the table, than they were at scoring them (only one team above them scored the same or fewer, while four below them scored the same or more).
    
    Partisan fans can paint any picture they choose. Stats don’t have an emotional stake in it.
stokieuk - Jul 14, 2012 at 8:01 AM

Sorry but you wrote – ‘will Wilson stay at LB when Upson is healthy’…….

I’ll leave you to your ramblings now.

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- Richard Farley - Jul 14, 2012 at 1:48 PM
  
  Here’s how it works:
  
  Upson in the middle.
  Huth right.
  Wilkinson left.
  Wilson to midfield to bench.
  
  Each of Upson, Huth, WIlkinson made double-digit appearances at those spots last year.
  
  But you know this. You’re a Stoke fan.
  
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josher71 - Jul 16, 2012 at 4:38 PM

The Cameron deal confuses me and I can only guess that he is being bought because he is versatile and can play defense and midfield. What the team really needs are quality left back and right backs because while Wilkinson and Wilson are serviceable, they aren’t great. Wilkinson is a Championship level player and Wilson is in a miscast role.

Everyone wishes Pulis would be more ambitious and I think that with a healthy Palacios we will see less one direction football. That being said, one of the main reasons we were so dire last year was that Pennant was having off field issues, and Etherington has either lost his way or had a terrible season. Either of these are quite possible.

Also, Jon Walters needs to be dropped.

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