Hull City's 3-0 defeat to Stoke City shows money has been spent on good players, not a good team

But it was a rare glimpse because the talented trio only got much of the ball once Stoke City were able to drop deep and defend a lead."We're waiting for something to happen before we react,” complained their coach Shota Arveladze. “We can't wait before we give a reaction.”

Hull have bought players with real attacking class but on the evidence of Tuesday's 3-0 defeat, they do not have a good team. When you invest heavily in 16 players in a transfer window, you really need to spread the wealth around more.

The Tigers are overflowing with fantasy players who can do their stuff between the lines but against Stoke their goalkeeper, ball-winning midfielder and all but one of the back five – Tobias Figueiredo – were remnants of last season's squad.

Some of them – Jacob Greaves springs to mind – are good players but the stardust is certainly not evenly spread.

Hull have scored 11 goals in nine league games but conceded a whopping 18 – the Championship's worst record at this early stage. Switching to five at the back in the last couple of games has not changed that.

They have lost four of their last five matches conceding 15. Lewis Baker – a regular sight on loan in Yorkshire during his Chelsea days – helped himself to two goals and an assist.

Chairman Acun Ilicali is yet to be put to the test but owners who plough so much cash into exciting signings tend to be short on patience irrespective of the time it takes revamped squads to gel.

Hull were unhappy about the two Baker free-kicks Stoke scored their first-half goals from and particularly unlucky with the massive deflection the first beat Matt Ingram with but for all the talent imported – too much to all fit in a balanced team, too much in the treatment room – they are a long way off being the side they aspire to be.

They were booed off at the interval and much more loudly at full-time as a Stoke side with one win this season before pitching up by the Humber managed 20 shots at goal.

"Can we play you every week?" their supporters ingraciously taunted the hosts after Baker's emphatic second goal.

Ingram had already saved one deflected Baker free-kick before he was completely wrong-footed by another, in the 25th minute after a free-kick given against Tyler Smith, leading the line while the big names drifted about behind him.In between time Greaves had to block a shot from former Barnsley player Jacob Brown after Liam Delap played him in. The centre-back could do nothing when the Manchester City loanee and son of Rory cut inside him only to shoot at the goalkeeper.

Stoke seemed to have worked out deflections were their best weapon and Will Smallbone won a corner from another which ended with Aiden Flint heading over after some lax Hull marking.

You could occasionally see something there in Hull, but they targeted their attacks down Callum Elder's left flank where Brown was the wing-back on patrol. That Elder was hooked at half-time tells you how it went. Dimitrios Pelkas also came on at the break, for Smith, pushing Estupinan to the point of the attack.

The flowing move from Seri to Smith ended with a blocked shot and Regan Slater just pulled his shot wide after Seri played a corner to him outside the area.

When Barker put a free-kick in from the right touchline on the stroke of half-time – again Hull were unhappy about the award – Ingram came from it but got nowhere near it. Ben Wilmot did, to head in.

Before the second-half changes had time to take effect, the game should have been put to bed and read a story, Ingram redeeming himself by coming out on top one-on-one with Josh Tymon.

Once the alterations did settle in, Hull played most of the next 20 minutes deep in Stoke territory, Estupunan hitting a post and Slater forcing a low save.

Then Stoke finally stopped rope-a-doping and landed the knockout blow, Barker blasting in from long range.

Soon Tufan and Seri had to make way, out of puff having recently returned from injury. Chelsea loanees Xavier Simons and Harvey Vale did not make the squad.

"They've had three days, four days with the team and Vale's not really a striker, more a No 10,” said Arveladze at full-time. “To put a young boy in when he's not rally playing in his best position (is not fair). He could start or not be in the 18.”

It is a bit of a theme with this squad."We don’t have a balanced squad now with the real strikers out (injured) and the wing-backs out and boys who've come in during the last three or four days.”Cyrus Christie, an experienced, Championship-savvy right-back picked up as a free agent, only got the last five minutes.

The balance is just not right. It was painfully obvious on Tuesday.

Hull City: Ingram; Coyle, A Jones (Christie 85), Figueiredo, Greaves, Elder (Longman 46); Seri (Woods 75), Slater; Tufan (Docherty 75), Estupinan; Smith (Pelkas 46). Unused substitutes: Baxter, McLoughlin.Stoke City: Bursik; Wilmot, Flint, Fox; Brown (Fosu-Henry 90), Baker, Thompson, Smallbone, Tymon (Taylor 71); Delap, Gayle (Powell 75). Unused substitutes: Fielding, Wright-Phillips, Sparrow, Baker.Referee: L Doughty (Lancashire).