You certainly can’t fault Mame Biram Diouf for effort. The Senegal international was given a difficult task at the London Stadium on Tuesday evening, asked by Paul Lambert to provide enough presence in the final third to make something out of nothing as the rest of Stoke’s starting XI – Xherdan Shaqiri excepted – stayed behind the ball to stop West Ham scoring in a vital relegation clash between the two Premier League sides.
Indeed, the 30-year-old made a real nuisance of himself in a bid to bring the Potters up the pitch – especially in the air. Incredibly, having won a huge 17 aerial duels against the Hammers, half of Diouf’s touches at the London Stadium were headers. He used that physicality to make opportunities for others, and actually created the second-most chances of any Stoke player after their Swiss playmaker.
Yet, at this point in the season, Stoke need someone up front who can provide the cutting edge to get them over the winning line, and that’s inevitably where Diouf lacks. Although he took four efforts at goal, showing he’s capable of getting himself in the right places, two of those chances were borderline sitters – yet neither found their way to the back of the net.
With four games left to reverse a five-point deficit between themselves and safety, Lambert has a key decision to make. Stoke have played well over the last few months with Diouf up front and were solid again at the London Stadium, yet they still needed veteran target man Peter Crouch to break the deadlock after coming on from the bench.
So, Stoke City fans, which forward would you start up front in Stoke’s next Premier League game – a home clash with Burnley? Would you start Diouf, Crouch or both when the Clarets come to town? Let us know by voting below…
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