Filed under: Arsenal, Stoke City, Premier League, Football
Hostilities will commence once again at the Britannia Stadium on Sunday in one of the biggest grudge games of recent years.And while Stoke's first ever FA Cup Final is looming on the horizon, Tony Pulis has been drumming into his players all week the importance of their latest clash with Arsene Wenger.
Make no mistake, party poopers extraordinaire Stoke will be on a mission to deliver the final knockout blow to Wenger's slimmer-than-a-supermodel hopes of snatching the Premier League title this weekend.
Nobody gets up Pulis' nose more than Wenger, with his holier-than-thou attitude and refusal to accept the strengths of other teams that don't rely on 49 pretty passes before they reach an opponent's penalty area.
The two clubs could not be further removed in their styles of play, even if Stoke's football has improved significantly since their first season back in the big time.
Stoke's abrasive approach has infuriated Wenger, culminating in the much-publicised challenge on Aaron Ramsey from Ryan Shawcross last February that only served to pour kerosene on an already inflamed relationship between the two managers.
Earlier this season, Pulis delivered a carefully planned array of digs at Wenger in the media conference before the game at the Emirates.
His revelation that Arsenal's disciplinary record was far worse than Stoke's - and the statistics did back him up - and insistence that Wenger is under pressure to deliver a trophy was pure box office.
It was manna from heaven for the journalists present - even if the game then got called off due to heavy snow!
Pulis avoided producing another blizzard of criticism and facts for the rearranged fixture by ducking the press, as did Wenger in a desperate attempt to introduce some calm to their latest meeting.
Arsenal emerged with a 1-0 victory on that occasion, in February, to move within a point of Manchester United. But they will start the game on Sunday six points behind United, who will play Chelsea later that afternoon.
How Pulis and his players will love to finally kill off Wenger's title hopes for good. It is probably the one game that will ensure minds will not be drifting towards Wembley and Roberto Mancini.
Of course, Ramsey's potential involvement will dominate the build-up, coming just a week after his return was marked with the winning goal against Manchester United.
Ramsey has never forgiven Shawcross for the tackle that broke his leg and this will be their first encounter since that fateful Saturday evening a little over a year ago.
There has been talk of pressure on Ramsey to issue a statement before Sunday pleading for calm. Highly unlikely, and if he still feels so raw about it, why should he?
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Heath Slocum Hernan Crespo Hunter Mahan Iker Casillas Ivan Ljubicic
No comments:
Post a Comment