In the history of the Premier League, Stoke City is not a team worthy of special mention.
Although it has a long history second only to Notts County, in the first dozen years of the Premier League, it has always competed in the second tier of League One and later the Championship, and even the third tier.
In 2002, Stoke City welcomed Tony Pulis.
At that time, Stoke City had just been promoted from the third tier to League One. Under the coaching of Pulis, Stoke City performed stably and was always in the middle of League One. However, due to conflicts with the new boss, Pulis's performance was stable.
Pulis resigned angrily, and it was not until a year later that former boss Coates returned to take charge of the team that he invited Pulis back.
This time, Pulis took two years to lead Stoke City to the Championship and runners-up, and successfully promoted to the Premier League.
From relegation in 1985 to return in 2008, it took Stoke City 23 years.
This is also the first time Tony Pulis has coached a Premier League team.
With almost no one optimistic about it, Stoke City finished twelfth in the Premier League that season and successfully avoided relegation.
Last season it ranked 11th, but this season it is temporarily ranked 8th.
Tony Pulis led Stoke City to a place in the Premier League.
During their three years in the Premier League, Stoke City earned themselves the nickname, City in the Sky.
The origin of this nickname is mainly due to the style of play of the Stoke City team coached by Pulis.
Do you know which team has the highest average height among the twenty teams in the Premier League this season?
Which team has the heaviest average weight?
Yes, congratulations, you guessed it correctly.
Stoke City!
With an average height of 1.87 meters and an average weight of nearly 82 kilograms, Stoke City has become the most special team among the 20 teams in the Premier League. It can be called the unique scenery of the Premier League.
In Pulis's team, there are no complex tactics, no fine ball control, and no imaginative coordination. They don't need any of this at all. They have returned football tactics to the most primitive traditional style of play.
This is also a tradition in English football, long pass and lob.
Just relying on one hand and their excellent throw-in grenade tactics, Stoke City is currently ranked eighth in the Premier League.
Even Ferguson was incredible and believed that Tony Pulis' team was the most unique scenery in the Premier League.
"Their football is always flying in the sky, and it seems like it doesn't even need to land before it can be sent into the goal!"
As a result, Pulis's team earned the nickname, City in the Sky.
Manchester City is the team with the shortest average height in the Premier League, similar to Arsenal, and Manchester City's tactical style of play is to control the ball at their feet and penetrate the opponent's defense through passing and coordination.
This is completely the opposite extreme from Stoke City.
The tallest and the shortest in the Premier League, the long pass and the penetration of pass control, coupled with Ferguson's fire before the game, made Stoke City's away game against Manchester City extremely eye-catching.
Who is better?
This battle is related to the ownership of this season's Premier League championship, and it also determines the arrival of Manchester City's first Premier League championship in history. Therefore, on the night of the game, the Etihad Stadium was full, and even a large number of fans gathered outside the stadium.
.
None of them could buy tickets to enter the game, so they could only stay outside and listen to what was going on inside.
…
Before the game, in the visiting team's locker room.
Tony Pulis looks at the Stoke City players in front of him.
Center defender Shawcross is 1.91 meters tall, Collins and Wilson are both over 1.85 meters tall, and even favorite Wilkinson is 1.8 meters tall. In addition, midfielders are generally over 1.8 meters tall.
After scanning around, Tony Pulis felt a little relieved.
Facing Su Dong, it would be unsafe to be shorter.
That Chinese guy is like a monster!
Sometimes he even wondered whether Su Dong was a biochemical man developed in a Chinese military laboratory?
Otherwise, how could he be so perfect?
Thinking of this, Tony Pulis smiled and shook his head, getting rid of this nonsense idea.
"Everyone, this is our penultimate game of the season. Our opponent is Manchester City, who are aiming for the championship, and we are still away from home, but I believe that the Etihad fans cannot scare us!"
Tony Pulis is doing his final mobilization before the game.
"Ryan, did you hear Sir Alex Ferguson's call? Manchester United needs you tonight more than ever before!"
Tony Pulis looks at centre-back Ryan Shawcross.
Shawcross was born in the youth training of Manchester United and was once a player in the first team. However, after being loaned to Antwerp in Belgium, he was sent to Stoke City. Returning to Manchester United has always been Shawcross's wish.
Ferguson is also his godfather!
At this moment, hearing the encouragement from Tony Pulis, the fierce-looking Shawcross' eyes flashed with stern expression.
"Don't let him get over me tonight! Don't even think about it once!"
This ruthless look made even the teammates around him shudder.
This is a ruthless character who can break Arsenal midfielder Ramsey's leg in a game!
Tony Pulis was very satisfied with Shawcross' fierceness. After nodding his head encouragingly, he turned to look at the team's Norwegian center John Carew. After the latter felt the coach's eyes, he also became
A solemn look on his face.
Standing 1.96 meters tall and 31 years old, John Carew is not the main player for Stoke City. He even just returned from injury not long ago. But tonight, facing Manchester City, Tony Pulis still used him
Put it in the lineup.
He knows John Carew, even though the Norwegian only moved to Stoke City from Aston Villa this season.
"John, I know that you have never let go and have always wanted to prove yourself. Now the opportunity has come! Defeat him, score the Manchester City goal in front of him, and prove that you are not inferior to him!"
Tony Pulis's words seemed to touch a certain point in John Carew's heart, igniting a raging fire in him, and his whole person suddenly became high-spirited.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In the eyes of many people, John Carew is just a center forward in the Premier League. He doesn’t score many goals, has a low reputation, and often can’t even play in the main team.
He has a burly body and is compared with Su Dong by many people.
This was the thing John Carew hated most.
Because in Valencia, it was because of Su Dong that he completely lost his position and was kicked out by Benitez.
John Carew will never forget that the people in Valencia told him that the team must make room for Su Dong.
It was also from the time he left Valencia that John Carew's career went downhill until now.
He hated being compared with Su Dong. The more he compared him, the more he hated and became angry.
Tony Pulis saw through his mind, so he asked him to unleash the beast in his heart and score Manchester City's goal.
"Everyone!"
Tony Pulis stood among all the players and attracted their attention.
"We are not a strong team, we do not have any big-name stars, and even our ranking is only in the middle. We are always so inconspicuous, no one pays attention, no one pays attention to us, we are like a supporting role in a movie, no one
A passerby who will care."
"I know that you have had enough of all this, and you also long to appear on the front pages of major newspapers like those stars. Now, I tell you, the opportunity has come!"
Tony Pulis' mobilization was really inflammatory. He easily ignited the fighting spirit of everyone in the dressing room and made them excited.
"Walk out of this dressing room, onto this pitch, and kill the team in front of you that is about to win the Premier League championship. Then you, everyone here, will be the headlines of major media outlets around the world tomorrow. You will
Enjoy unprecedented attention, and you will become the center of attention!"
"Fight, my warriors! Unleash the beast within you and devour our opponents!"
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Manchester City has also made sufficient preparations to face Stoke City at home.
Ferguson's pre-game controversy did not affect the preparations of Manchester City's coaching staff.
Everyone at Manchester City is full of confidence in defeating Stoke City.
But when it came to the game, from the moment the whistle sounded, everyone in Manchester City, even the fans in the stands, felt that Stoke City was different tonight.
It was as if they were risking their lives and pressed Manchester City full-court, preventing Manchester City from easily getting and controlling the ball.
Relying on their excellent physical confrontation and height advantage, they kept causing fouls on the court, constantly interrupting Manchester City's rhythm of passing and controlling the ball, and constantly destroying Manchester City's offensive line, causing the game to be interrupted again and again.
Stoke City is a very smart team. They know how to adjust the referee's enforcement standards and make their fouls wander between getting cards and not getting cards. This makes the Manchester City players have nothing to do against them.
Even though it was a home game and even after a week's rest, when Manchester City encountered such a completely lifeless opponent who fought tooth and nail, they were really helpless for a while.
Whenever Stoke City gets an opportunity to get close and make physical contact, the Manchester City players will immediately fall on their feet.
Physically, the gap between Manchester City and Stoke City is still very obvious.
Tony Pulis' team, nicknamed Sky City, is good at long passes and lobs. This style of play has a low success rate but a fast pace.
They played long passes as soon as the ball was intercepted, and scrambled after long passes were misplaced. The pace of the entire game was sped up very quickly, like a wild horse that had run loose. No matter how hard Manchester City pulled, they couldn't slow down the pace.
Stoke City really has nothing to pursue, but they are happy to defeat the team that is about to win the championship away from home, and even snipe the rich team that is about to win the championship.
For no other reason than to let the whole world see them and let all fans know them.
For a team that has struggled in the lower leagues for a long time and has been among the middle and lower-tier teams for a long time, this is more attractive than anything else.
