Stoke City vs Arsenal: Arsene Wenger says abuse he gets at Britannia worse than Tottenham
The Gunners' boss believes the reception he gets is worse than in the north London derby
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Arsène Wenger believes the hostility he gets from Stoke City fans is worse than he faces at Tottenham.
The Arsenal manager offered his opinion in the build-up to today’s clash at the Britannia Stadium. Arsenal and Stoke have a long history of antipathy which included the Frenchman’s description of Stoke’s playing style, under their former manager Tony Pulis, as “rugby” tactics.
However, Wenger believes the real hostility dates back to the controversial fall-out when Aaron Ramsey suffered a broken leg after a challenge from Ryan Shawcross in February 2010.
Wenger called it “horrendous” and challenged the FA to take action, earning him long-standing ire from the local support. Asked this week whether he senses more personal antipathy at Stoke than anywhere else, Wenger agreed.
“I don’t mind too much for that,” he said. “I think the major incident was not that [rugby] comment. The major incident was Ramsey. That’s where it started. I don’t know [why they still boo]. You should ask them. I don’t bully them.”
Asked specifically whether that reception is worse than during the north London derby, he said: “It is maybe more aggressive, yes.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments