i want to be king

Chapter 867 Let's fight, my warriors!
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 ten years of the Premier League, it has always played in the second-tier League One and later the British Championship, and even the third-tier league.

In [-], Stoke City ushered in Tony Pulis.

At that time, Stoke City had just been promoted to League One from the third tier. Under the coaching of Pulis, Stoke City played steadily and was always in the middle of the League One.

This time, it took Pulis two years to bring Stoke City to the runner-up of the British Championship and successfully promoted to the Premier League.

From relegation in 23 to return in [-], it took Stoke [-] years.

This is also the first time Tony Pulis has coached a Premier League team.

Almost under the circumstances that no one was optimistic about, Stoke City won No. 12 in the Premier League that season and successfully avoided relegation.

Ranked No.11 last season, and temporarily ranked eighth this season.

Tony Pulis led Stoke City to break out in the Premier League.

During his three years in the Premier League, Stoke City has earned itself a nickname, the City in the Sky.

The origin of this nickname is mainly because of 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.

Stoke City!

With an average height of 1.8 meters and an average weight of close to 82 kilograms, this makes Stoke City the most special team among the [-] teams in the Premier League, and it can be called the unique landscape of the Premier League.

In Pulis's team, there are no complicated tactics, no fine ball control, and no imaginative cooperation. They don't need all these at all. They let football tactics return to the most primitive traditional style of play.

This is also a tradition in English football, with long passes.

With one hand alone, and their very good throw-in grenade tactics, Stoke City are currently ranked eighth in the Premier League.

Even Ferguson felt incredible, thinking that Tony Pulis's team is the most unique scenery in the Premier League.

"Their footballs are always flying in the sky, and it seems that they don't need to land at all to be sent into the goal!"

Hence Pulis's team earned the nickname, Laputa 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 play is to control the ball at their feet and penetrate the opponent's defense by passing and cooperating.

This is completely two extremes with Stoke City.

The tallest and shortest in the Premier League, the long pass and the penetration of pass control, coupled with Ferguson's arch 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 the Premier League champion this season, and it also determines the arrival of Manchester City's first Premier League champion in history. Therefore, on the night of the game, the Etihad Stadium was full of seats, and even a large number of fans gathered outside the stadium.

They couldn't buy tickets to enter the stadium, so they could only stay outside and listen to the movement inside.

……

Before the game, in the visiting team's locker room.

Tony Pulis looks at the Stoke City players in front of him.

Central defender Shawcross is 1.9 meters tall, Collins and Wilson are both over 1.8 meters five, even the favorite Wilkinson has reached 1.8 meters, plus midfielders who are generally over 1.8 meters tall.

After scanning around, Tony Pulis felt a little relieved.

Facing Su Dong, being shorter is not safe.

That Chinese looks like a monster!

Sometimes he even wondered if Su Dong was a biochemical man researched in a Chinese military laboratory?
Otherwise, how could he be so perfect?

Thinking of this, Tony Pulis shook his head with a smile, and shook off this ridiculous idea.

"Everyone, this is our penultimate game of the season. The opponent is Manchester City, which is aiming for the championship, and we are still away, but I believe that the fans of the Etihad will not be able to scare us!"

Tony Pulis is doing his final mobilization before the game.

"Ryan, have you heard Sir Alex Ferguson's call? Tonight's Manchester United needs you more than ever!"

Tony Pulis looks to center back Ryan Shawcross.

Shawcross was born in Manchester United's youth training and was once one of the players in the first team. However, 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's encouragement at this moment, the eyes of the vicious Shawcross flashed fiercely.

"Don't try to pass me by tonight! Don't even think about it once!"

This ruthlessness made even the surrounding teammates shudder.

This is a ruthless character who can break Arsenal midfielder Ramsey's leg in a game!
Tony Pulis was very satisfied with Shawcross's ruthlessness. After nodding his head encouragingly, he turned his head to look at the team's Norwegian center John Carew. After feeling the head coach's eyes, the latter also became solemn.

Height 1.9 meters six, 31 years old, John Carew is not the main force of the Stoke City team, and 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 joined Stoke this season from Aston Villa.

"John, I know, you have always been unable to let go, and you have always wanted to prove yourself. Now is your chance! Beat him, break through Manchester City's goal in front of him, and prove that you are not inferior to him!"

The words of Tony Pulis seemed to have touched a certain point in John Carew's heart, causing him to ignite a raging fire, and his whole person suddenly became high-spirited.

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 doesn't even play the main force. He just has a burly body and is compared with Su Dong by many people.

It was the thing John Carew hated most.

Because in Valencia back then, it was because of Su Dong that he completely lost his position and was swept out by Benitez.

John Carew will never forget in any case, when the Valencia people told him that the team must make room for Sudong.

Also from the time he left Valencia, John Carew's career went downhill until now.

He hated being compared with Su Dong very much. The more he compared, the more he hated and became angry.

Tony Pulis saw through his mind, so let him start, hoping that he can unleash the beast in his heart and break through Manchester City's goal.

"Everyone!"

Tony Pulis stood in the middle of all the players, drawing their attention.

"We are not a strong team, we don't 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, we are like a character in a movie, a passerby who no one cares about."

"I know, you have had enough of all this, and you are also eager to appear on the front pages of major newspapers like those stars. Now, I tell you, the opportunity is here!"

Tony Pulis's mobilization was really provocative. He easily got everyone in the dressing room excited and excited.

"Go out of this dressing room, walk onto this stadium, and kill the team that is about to win the Premier League championship in front of you. Then you, everyone present, will become the headlines of the world's major media tomorrow. You will enjoy unprecedented attention, and you will become the most eye-catching focus!"

"Fight, my warriors! Unleash the beast within you to devour our opponents!"

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Manchester City also made sufficient preparations for the home game against Stoke City.

Ferguson's arch fire before the game did not affect the preparations of Manchester City's coaching staff.

For defeating Stoke City, Manchester City is full of confidence from top to bottom.

But in 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 going all out, desperate for their lives, and adopted a full-court press on Manchester City, preventing Manchester City from easily taking and controlling the ball.

Relying on their excellent physical confrontation and height advantages, they kept making fouls on the court, interrupted Manchester City's pass and control rhythm, and kept 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 judge the referee's law enforcement standards and let their fouls drift between getting cards and not getting cards. This makes Manchester City players have nothing to do with them.

Even though it was a home game, and even after a week of rest, when Manchester City encountered such a completely desperate opponent, they were really helpless for a while.

But as long as Stoke City catches the opportunity, gets close and makes physical contact, the Manchester City players will immediately be turned on their backs.

Physically, the gap between Manchester City and Stoke City is still obvious.

Tony Pulis's team, nicknamed "City in the Sky", is good at long balls and lobs. This style of play has a low success rate, but the rhythm is fast.

Playing long passes as soon as the ball is stolen, and grabbing after making mistakes in long passes, the rhythm of the whole game is pulled very fast, like a wild horse that has run away. No matter how Manchester City pulls, they can't slow down the rhythm.

Stoke City really has nothing to pursue, but they are happy to beat the team that is about to win the championship in the away game, and even snipe this rich team that is about to win the championship.

Not for anything else, just to let the whole world see them and let all fans know them.

This is more attractive than anything else for a team that has struggled in the low-level leagues for a long time and has been in the middle and lower reaches of the team for a long time.

(End of this chapter)