Stoke City manager Tony Pulis has defended his side’s tactics stating Bale and Ronaldo would fit in at the club.
Tony Pulis is not a manager known for outlandish statements and striving for unrealistic prospects, but the Stoke boss may be stretching things a bit when he claims Gareth Bale and Cristiano Ronaldo would fit in with the Potters’ squad.
Whilst defending his team’s style of play, which is often derided for being one-dimensional and unimaginative, Pulis has struck back saying playmakers Bale and Ronaldo would be at home at the Britannia.
“If I had an open chequebook and someone said you can have Cristiano Ronaldo and Gareth Bale, people of that ilk fine – they would suit my style of play,” the Stoke manager said on The Sport Review.
“It takes time for a club to evolve – three, four, maybe even five years in some cases.”
When the season concludes in May it will mark the end of Stoke’s fourth year in the Premier League, although as they sit precariously above the relegation zone it could well be their last.
Although most clubs in the world would welcome players of the calibre of Bale and Ronaldo into their team, it seems a little far-fetched that the pair would suit Stoke’s current style of play.
The Shropshire club have been criticised since their return to the top flight in 2008 for bully-boy tactics and a ‘lump it up to the big man’ attitude.
When Rory Delap was a regular in the first team the midfielder set up a number of Stoke’s goals via his abnormally long throw-ins.
Yet with the talent possessed by both Bale and Ronaldo it is fair to say they could probably put a 50-yard ball on Cameron Jerome’s head every time – maybe Pulis is right after all.
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