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Pulis’ Potter side had a habit of getting under the Gunners’ skin
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One of the best Premier League subplots during the late 2000s and early 2010s was just how easily Tony Pulis’ Stoke City could get under the skin of Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal. The contrasting styles of the two sides saw The Potters’ physical approach often leave the more elegant Gunners’ battered and bruised when they headed to the then-Britannia Stadium. In fact, during Pulis’ tenure at Stoke, Arsenal would only win once in six visits to the Potteries.
Pulis oversaw five top-flight seasons with Stoke, who never finished lower than 14th in the table, thanks to their set-piece prowess, Rory Delap’s famed long throw and their general ability to make a nuisance against even the most skilful opponents. The club that complained most about their tactics was Arsenal, who deployed a much less physical style under Wenger, but have since become the Premier League’s set-piece kings during Mikel Arteta’s reign.
It’s an irony that isn’t lost on Pulis. “We always seemed to have it over Arsenal, psychologically as much as anything else, ” Pulis tells Four Four Two. “Arsene was bemused by the fact that Rory could throw the ball that well, and bemused that we could cause so much trouble by doing that. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. “He tried to ban throw-ins, then he complained about the length of the grass on the pitch, then he mentioned that our pitch was the smallest in the league – it wasn’t, it was the same size as the pitch at Goodison Park. “He found all these reasons to have a dig when they came to play at the Britannia, but it was brilliant – if we could have played Arsenal every week, we would have done, because it was so enjoyable.
“The crowd were always up for it. “Mind you, for the first two or three years in the Premier League at Stoke, every home game was extraordinary. ” For more than a decade, Joe Mewis has worked in football journalism as a reporter and editor. Mewis has had stints at Mirror Football and Leeds Live among others and worked at Four Four Two throughout Euro 2024, reporting on the tournament. In addition to his journalist work, Mewis is also the author of four football history books that include times on Leeds United and the England national team. Now working as a digital marketing coordinator at Harrogate Town, too, Mewis counts some of his best career moments as being in the iconic Spygate press conference under Marcelo Bielsa and seeing his beloved Leeds lift the Championship trophy during lockdown. You must confirm your public display name before commenting Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.
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