We always seemed to have it over Arsenal psychologically. If we could have played them every week, we would have done' Tony Pulis on being Arsene Wenger's kryptonite with Stoke City

"We always seemed to have it over Arsenal, psychologically as much as anything else, Pulis tells FourFourTwo. Arsene was bemused by the fact that Rory could throw the ball that well, and bemused that we could cause so much trouble by doing that. The best features, fun and footballing quizzes, straight to your inbox every week. He tried to ban throw-ins, then he complained about the length of the grass on the pitch,"

"then he mentioned that our pitch was the smallest in the league it wasn't, it was the same size as the pitch at Goodison Park. He found all these reasons to have a dig when they came to play at the Britannia, but it was brilliant if we could have played Arsenal every week, we would have done, because it was so enjoyable."

Tony Pulis' Stoke City combined physical defending, set-piece strength and Rory Delap's long throw to unsettle technically superior opponents. Stoke spent five top-flight seasons under Pulis, never finishing lower than 14th, and became notorious for making life difficult for skill-based teams. Arsenal particularly struggled at the Britannia, winning only once in six visits during Pulis' tenure. Arsenal repeatedly complained about Stoke's tactics, pitch length and throw-ins while struggling to cope with the physical contest. The hostile atmosphere at the stadium and Stoke's pragmatic approach often produced matches that favored the home side.

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