Mark Hughes hits back at Arsene Wenger over Stoke's 'direct' style
Sunday 17 January 2016 23:27, UK
Mark Hughes dismissed Arsene Wenger's claim that Stoke played "physical" and "very direct" tactics in the 0-0 draw against Arsenal at the Britannia Stadium.
It was a game where both goalkeepers shone as Jack Butland denied Olivier Giroud with two smart saves either side of the break, before Petr Cech stood strong in the second period, including thwarting Bojan with a double save.
Wenger had acknowledged in his pre-match press conference that Stoke have changed their approach under Hughes from the more direct style under former boss Tony Pulis, but said after the Super Sunday clash he thought Stoke would have played more of a passing game.
Stoke boss Hughes was perplexed by Wenger's insistence they had to contend with a robust approach.
He said: "I don't think there was a yellow card, was there?
"I don't know why the physical aspect of the game needs to be mentioned. I thought it was a good football game, with both teams trying to win a key Premier League game. That's certainly what we were doing."
Having already beaten both Manchester clubs and Chelsea at home in the league this term, the Potters' hopes of adding Arsenal to that list were thwarted by Cech's second-half brilliance.
He followed up a one-handed save from Joselu by denying Bojan from the rebound before using his feet to repel Joselu again late on to record the 172nd Premier League clean sheet of his career.
"I didn't think there was too much between the two sides," Hughes added.
"From our point of view, that shows how far we're progressing this year - we're prepared to go toe to toe with every team in the Premier League and see where it takes us.
"We've added Arsenal to Chelsea, Man City, Man Utd, teams that are elite teams in the Premier League and Europe and found it very, very difficult to get positives results. I'm sure Arsenal and Arsene are delighted that they've come here and got a point out of it."
