Stoke City have the toughest start laments http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Tony-c35440 Pulis – English Premier League
Stoke City’s manager Tony Pulis has come out and said that his team’s fixtures at the start of the new English Premier League season are quite difficult which means that they might not have the most ideal of starts to their new
league campaign.
Stoke City have become famous over the past two years for their overtly physical style of play at the Britannia stadium as the Potters have turned their home ground into something of a fortress. Pulis has played a major role in
this transformation which saw the Potters make it to the F.A Cup final last season only to be outdone by a quality ridden Manchester City side.
Stoke’s disappointing end to the 2010-2011 Premier League season pushed Pulis towards improving his squad in the summer and signs of improvement were already visible in their opening weekend draw with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 at the Britannia stadium.
Despite a resurgent http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Fernando-Torres-c13707, Chelsea failed to break down a resilient defence as Stoke frustrated them with their long ball game assisted by Rory Delap’s throw ins.
Stoke’s offensive strategy has worked well for them in the past and that is why they find themselves on the verge of European football this season with their Europa League qualifier coming up. Tony Pulis lamented about Stoke’s
tough schedule at the start of the new English Premier League as he stated, "You know that over the course of a Premier League season, you will have a run of difficult fixtures, there will be highs and lows. This is the hardest run of fixtures we've had, but
it's vital that we stay focused on our objectives.”
He went onto elaborate on how Stoke’s home form was so important last season and the year before that as well when they successfully retained their English Premier League status under Pulis’ guidance. He also affirmed that Stoke
are pencilled in to face off against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Liverpool-c39809 and Manchester United after gaining a draw against Chelsea on the opening weekend of the new Premier League season in the upcoming weeks.
Speaking about the heightened level of expectation at the Britannia stadium after Stoke’s successful F.A Cup run last season, Pulis stated, "Managing expectations is becoming as hard as managing the players. But that is because
we have been on an upward curve for five years and understandably people are then looking for you to push on yet again. There is a real buzz around the city, a real feel good factor due to the fact that we reached the FA Cup Final and have now done well in
Europe.”
Stoke play their next Europa League qualification encounter against F.C Thun on 18th of August, 2011. A win against Thun in the away leg of their qualification playoff would certainly be a boost to Pulis’ team who can then prepare to play against
Norwich City on 20th of August, 2011 before travelling to the Hawthorns stadium to compete against Roy Hodgson’s West Bromwich Albion.
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