Dave Kitson on talkSPORT: Fascinating insight into why Stoke ‘crossed the line’ against Arsenal

Dave Kitson on talkSPORT: Fascinating insight into why Stoke ‘crossed the line’ against Arsenal
Dave Kitson has given a fascinating insight into Stoke City’s mentality under Tony Pulis.The former Stoke striker, writing in his column for The Sun, claimed that former Potters boss Pulis wound up his players so much that it contributed to Ryan Shawcross breaking Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey’s leg in an infamous incident in February 2010.2

Arsenal players react with horror after Aaron Ramsey breaks his leg at Stoke

Expanding on his controversial column when speaking on talkSPORT 2 on Friday, Kitson said: “Tony was very good at motivating players. He was very keen to beat Arsenal. We all were.“They were the antithesis of what we were as a team. I certainly thoughtWenger looked at us like we weren’t fit to be on the same pitch and I definitely felt that they were looking down their noses at us whenever they played Stoke, which angered me, angered a lot of the players and angered Tony. “He was desperate to beat the big teams to prove himself but this one had an added spice because of the way we played, the way Arsenal played and the way we felt we were perceived by Arsenal and unfortunately in that particular game that passion to win manifested itself in the worst possible way.We were overly aggressive.“Teams are a reflection of the manager. Tony was desperate to win that game, we were desperate to win that game and we crossed the line in that particular game.“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 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.2

Dave Kitson admits Stoke crossed the line against Arsenal

“We were wound up trying to beat Arsenal which was a reflection of where Tony was.“He wanted to win that game desperately and he made us want to win it even more, which is a talent, getting your team to rally round you.“Unfortunately it came out wrong. We got it all wrong that game.”

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