Going into the final day of the 2014/15 Premier League season, a Stoke City team managed by Mark Hughes needed three points at home against Liverpool to secure their highest Premier League points total.
The visitors, then under head coach Brendan Rodgers, had struggled to match the form of the previous season’s title challenge and were already out of contention for the Champions League places. Instead, the focus on the Reds lay squarely on captain Steven Gerrard, for whom the fixture represented his final game as a player on British shores.
Gerrard eventually managed to score a farewell goal in front of the travelling fans, but Liverpool were otherwise outplayed and outfought in a chastening 6-1 defeat. Here, in an exclusive Masterclass with the Coaches’ Voice, Hughes reveals the key selection and tactical decisions that inspired a victory in which numerous players with a Liverpool connection – including Charlie Adam, Peter Crouch and Jon Walters – made significant contributions.
