{"id":1982,"date":"2024-05-29T16:15:49","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T15:15:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xgenius.co.uk\/?p=1982"},"modified":"2024-05-30T17:35:59","modified_gmt":"2024-05-30T16:35:59","slug":"is-it-harder-to-play-on-a-cold-rainy-night-in-stoke-than-the-champions-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jusmedia.co.uk\/xgenius\/2024\/05\/29\/is-it-harder-to-play-on-a-cold-rainy-night-in-stoke-than-the-champions-league\/","title":{"rendered":"Is it harder to play on a \u201ccold rainy night in Stoke\u201d than the Champions League ?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With the Champions League final kicking off this Saturday all eyes will be on former Stoke striker Joselu, who will be donning the historic white jersey of Real Madrid<\/a>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Premier League fans will remember when he joined Stoke City <\/a>in the summer of 2015 from the Bundesliga and then Newcastle United<\/a> in 2017, failing to impress at both English sides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So is it really harder to play on a cold rainy night in Stoke than the Champions League semi-final as the infamous saying suggests? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mentality Explained – \u201cCan they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?\u201d <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

English football fans will be familiar with the phrase, \u201cCan they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The phrase originated in 2010 when analysing Monday night football Andy Gray argued that Lionel Messi would not have been able to shine in the Premier League like Cristiano Ronaldo did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The line could simply be referring to Stoke as the most mediocre lower half team in the league at that time, however, the Tony Pulis recently promoted side had created an impressive reputation for being an incredibly difficult team to face, especially at the Britannia Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger described the side as acting like a \u201crugby\u201d team and \u201ctotally unacceptable\u201d after Stoke City\u2019s Ryan Shawcross broke Aarons Ramsey’s leg when the teams faced that season. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the Potters’ first season in the Premier League, they gained 35 points at home whilst only achieving 10 points away from home all year. The Britannia stadium continued being a fortress for the Potters in the four years Pulis was at Stoke in the Premier League. They averaged 38.25 points per season at home but only 14.4 points away from home, a 23.85 difference. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When looking at Stoke City’s results throughout their ten years in the Premier League, they do maintain a significantly better home record than on the road, even after Pulis left in 2013. Despite Stoke being considered an easier opponent after Mark Hughes took over, they still averaged 29.7 points per season at home and only 16 points per season away from the Britannia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stoke City\u2019s closest Premier League rivals, West Brom and Wolves, although performed better at home. The gap between points gained from home and away fixtures, however, was never as apparent. West Brom averaged 6.75 more points at home and Wolves averaged 7 more points at home than away, a drastic difference to Stoke’s 23.5 difference under Pulis.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rory Delap\u2019s incredible long throw-ins #xgenius<\/a> #delap<\/a> #stokecity<\/a> #premierleague<\/a> #football<\/a> #footballtiktok<\/a> #footballedit<\/a> #footy<\/a> #prem<\/a> #throwback<\/a> #fyp<\/a> #footballvideo<\/a> #arsenal<\/a> #englandfootball<\/a> #england<\/a> #goal<\/a> <\/p> \u266c original sound – xGenius<\/a> <\/section> <\/blockquote>