Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal team were known for their beautiful football. Maybe it was not always a good thing.
At least that is what Jon Walters of Stoke City felt while playing them.
“We used to bully Arsenal. We knew they didn’t like coming,” he told talkSPORT. “There was a bit with Arsene Wenger and the crowd. The atmosphere was like nothing else.”
“The Stoke fans were really up for it, they generated a great noise and Arsenal hated coming to the Britannia. First challenge, I’d win the ball but I’d go right through whoever I was pressing against.”
“We used to not let teams out. If they wanted to play out we’d set it up so they could play out to the centre-half, but I would full-on sprint, everyone would be behind me and that just gets the crowd going. Once we got the crowd going, they were on the back foot.”
He said: “We crossed the line because we went hell for leather to try and win that game and be aggressive, which was a reflection of the way Tony [Pulis] wanted us to play. We didn’t go out to break anyone’s leg. We did go out to be physical and in that game we crossed the line.”
Oh poor Arsene, if only you’d break your philosophy once or twice to shake things up.
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