Chapter 867 Fight, my warriors!
In the history of the Premier League, Stoke City is not a team worth writing about.
Although it has a long history second only to Nottingham County, it has been playing in the second-tier League One and later the Championship, or even the third-tier league, for the first decade of the Premier League.
In 2002, Stoke City welcomed Tony Pulis.
At that time, Stoke City had just been promoted to English League One from the third-tier league. Under Pulis' coaching, Stoke City performed stably and was always in the middle of English League One. However, due to conflicts with the new boss, Pulis resigned angrily. It was not until a year later that the former boss Coates came back to take charge of the team and invited Pulis back.
This time, Pulis took two years to lead Stoke City to the runner-up of the Championship and successfully promoted to the Premier League.
It took Stoke City 23 years to return from relegation in 1985 to 2008.
This is also Tony Pulis' first time coaching a Premier League team.
Despite being almost unfavored by anyone, Stoke City finished 12th in the Premier League that season and successfully avoided relegation.
Ranked 11th last season and currently ranked 8th this season.
Tony Pulis led Stoke City to make a name for themselves in the Premier League.
During their three years in the Premier League, Stoke City earned themselves a nickname, Sky City.
The origin of this nickname is mainly due to the playing style of the Stoke City team coached by Pulis.
Do you know which team has the highest average height among the 20 Premier League teams this season?
Which team has the heaviest average weight? Yes, congratulations, you guessed it right.
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 Premier League teams, and can be regarded as a unique landscape of the Premier League.
In Pulis's team, there are no complicated tactics, no sophisticated ball control, and no imaginative cooperation. They don't need all of this at all. They have returned football tactics to the most primitive traditional style of play.
This is also the tradition of English football, long passes and lobs.
Thanks to this and their excellent throw-in grenade tactics, Stoke City is currently ranked eighth in the Premier League.
Even Ferguson was amazed and thought Tony Pulis's team was the most unique scenery in the Premier League.
"Their footballs are always flying in the sky. It seems that they don't even need to land to be sent into the goal!"
As a result, Pulis's team earned the nickname, Sky City.
Manchester City is the team with the shortest average height in the Premier League, almost the same as Arsenal, and Manchester City's tactical play is to control the ball at their feet and penetrate the opponent's defense through passing and cooperation.
This is completely different from Stoke City.
The tallest and shortest players in the Premier League, the long passes and lobs, as well as the passing and control penetration, coupled with Ferguson's instigation before the game, made Stoke City's away challenge against Manchester City extremely eye-catching.
Who will win? This battle is related to the ownership of this season's Premier League championship, and 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 packed with fans, and even outside the stadium.
They couldn't buy tickets to enter the stadium, so they could only wait outside and listen to the noise inside.
…
Before the game, in the visiting team's locker room.
Tony Pulis looked at the Stoke City players in front of him.
Central defender Shawcross is 1.91 meters tall, Collins and Wilson are both over 1.85 meters tall, even the favorite Wilkinson is 1.80 meters tall, plus the midfielders are generally over 1.80 meters tall.
After taking a look around, Tony Pulis felt a little relieved.
Facing Su Dong, being shorter is not safe.
That Chinese guy is like a monster!
Sometimes he even wondered if Su Dong was a cyborg 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 ridiculous 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 fans of Etihad can't scare us!"
Tony Pulis is making his final pre-match mobilisation speech.
"Ryan, did you hear Sir Ferguson's call? Manchester United needs you more than ever tonight!"
Tony Pulis looked towards centre-back Ryan Shawcross.
Shawcross came from Manchester United's youth training and was once one of the first-team players, but after being loaned to Antwerp, Belgium, he was sent to Stoke City. Returning to Manchester United has always been Shawcross's wish.
Ferguson is also his godfather!
Hearing Tony Pulis' encouragement at this moment, the ferocious Shawcross's eyes flashed with a fierce look.
"He won't get over me tonight! Not even once!"
This ruthlessness even made the teammates around him shudder.
This is the tough guy who broke the leg of Arsenal midfielder Ramsey in the game! Tony Pulis was very satisfied with Shawcross's ruthlessness. He nodded encouragingly and turned to look at the team's Norwegian center forward John Carew. After the latter felt the coach's gaze, his face became solemn.
Standing at 1.96 meters tall and 31 years old, John Carew is not a main player for Stoke City. He even just returned from injury not long ago. But tonight, facing Manchester City, Tony Pulis still put him in the starting lineup.
He knows John Carew, even though the Norwegian only moved to Stoke City from Aston Villa this season.
"John, I know you can't let go and always want to prove yourself. Now your chance is here! Defeat him, score against Manchester City in front of him, and prove that you are no worse than him!"
Tony Pulis' words seemed to touch a certain point in John Carew's heart, igniting a raging fire in him, and he suddenly became full of fighting spirit.
In the eyes of many people, John Carew is just a center forward in the Premier League. He doesn't score many goals, is not well-known, and is often not even a starter. He just has a burly body and is compared to Su Dong by many people.
This is what John Carew hated most.
Because when he was in Valencia, it was because of Su Dong that he completely lost his position and was kicked out by Benítez.
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, and it has continued to this day.
He hated being compared with Su Dong. The more he compared, the more he hated and angrier he felt.
Tony Pulis saw through his thoughts, so he let him start, hoping that he could unleash the beast in his heart and break Manchester City's goal.
"Everyone!"
Tony Pulis stood in the middle of all the players, attracting their attention.
"We are not a strong team, we don't have any big-name stars, and we are only ranked in the middle. We are always so inconspicuous, no one pays attention to us, no one pays attention to us, we are like a small role in a movie, a passerby that no one cares about."
"I know you've had enough of all this, and you want to be on the front pages of major newspapers like those stars. Now, I tell you, your chance has come!"
Tony Pulis' mobilization was really very inspiring. He easily ignited the fighting spirit of everyone in the locker room and made them excited.
“Walk out of this locker room, onto this stadium, and beat the team that is about to win the Premier League title. Then, you, everyone present, will be the headlines of all major media outlets around the world tomorrow. You will enjoy unprecedented attention, and you will become the focus of attention!”
"Fight, my warriors! Release the beast within you and devour our opponents!"
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Manchester City has also made sufficient preparations for the home game against Stoke City.
Ferguson's pre-match fanning the flames did not affect the preparations of Manchester City's coaching staff.
Manchester City is full of confidence in defeating Stoke City.
But when the game really started, from the moment the whistle sounded, everyone in Manchester City, even the fans in the stands, felt that Stoke City was different tonight.
They were simply risking their lives and pressing Manchester City throughout the entire court, not allowing Manchester City to easily get and control the ball.
Relying on their excellent physical confrontation and height advantage, they constantly created fouls on the court, constantly interrupted Manchester City's passing and controlling rhythm, and constantly destroyed Manchester City's offensive lines, causing the game to be interrupted again and again.
Stoke City is a very smart team. They know how to judge the referee's enforcement standards and make their fouls hover between getting a card and not getting a card, which makes it impossible for Manchester City players to do anything about them.
Even though they were playing at home and had a week's rest, when Manchester City encountered this kind of opponent who was totally reckless and determined to fight to the death, they were really helpless for a while.
Whenever Stoke City got a chance, got close and made physical contact, Manchester City players would immediately fall to the ground.
In terms of physical strength, the gap between Manchester City and Stoke City is still obvious.
Tony Pulis' team is nicknamed Sky City and is adept at long passes, a style of play that has a low success rate but a fast pace.
As soon as the ball was intercepted, a long pass was made, and after a long pass error, the opponent would steal the ball. The pace of the whole game was very fast, like a wild horse that had broken free from its reins. No matter how hard Manchester City pulled, they could not slow down the pace.
Stoke City really has nothing to aspire for, but they are happy to beat the team that is about to win the championship away from home, and even snipe this rich team that is about to win the championship.
If for no other reason than to let the whole world see them and let all the fans know them.
This is more attractive than anything else for a team that has been struggling in low-level leagues and has been in mid- and lower-level teams for a long time.
(End of this chapter)
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