‘If we could have played Arsenal every week at Stoke, we would have done – we had it over them, Arsene Wenger even tried to ban throw-ins! It’s nice that people now say Mikel Arteta has copied me’ Tony Pulis gives his verdict on the Gunners’ title charge

Arsenal were Tony Pulis’ biggest critics when he was manager of Stoke City – they won only once during six visits to the Britannia Stadium, and frequently bemoaned the Potters’ tactics.

Pulis deployed a Rory Delap long throw to superb effect during his time at the club, helping his side become incredibly dangerous at set pieces.

The Gunners had a much less physical side at the time, and Arsene Wenger was very public about his disapproval of the way that Stoke went about the game.

Pulis praises Arteta

Fast forward more than a decade and now Arsenal have a more physical side themselves, and currently sit top of the Premier League.

Crucially, they’ve done so by emulating Stoke and mastering set pieces – now ‘Pulis ball’ is becoming an increasing trend throughout the league, despite the criticism that the man himself used to get about such tactics.

“Oh, I used to get slaughtered!” Pulis laughs as he talks to FourFourTwo. “It’s nice to get some recognition – it’s nice for people to say that Arteta is copying you, instead of me copying them.

“I think Arteta has been absolutely brilliant in terms of understanding that it’s another way to win football matches. Arsenal are now set up stronger than they were last year – they can keep clean sheets, which is vital, and they’ve got players who can outplay any team in the league on their day.

“What he’s added is the fact that from dead balls now, they can score goals, so for me, he’s connected the circle. They’ve got a wonderful chance of winning the league this year.”

Arsene Wenger: not a fan

Unsurprisingly, Pulis does afford himself a wry smile that it’s Arsenal of all clubs who are leading the table with a style that’s being compared to his Stoke side. Back when he was Potters boss, the Gunners hated playing Pulis’ men.

“It was just the fact that we seemed to have it over them, I don’t know what it was, it was psychological as much as anything else,” Pulis says, speaking in association with legalnibukmacherzy.pl.

“Arsene Wenger 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.

“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 pitch 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 little bit of a dig when they came to the Britannia, but it was brilliant – if we could have played Arsenal every week, we would have done, because it was so enjoyable. The crowd were always up for it.”

There will be more from Pulis in an upcoming issue of FourFourTwo magazine