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.
Premier League fans will remember when he joined Stoke City in the summer of 2015 from the Bundesliga and then Newcastle United in 2017, failing to impress at both English sides.
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?
Mentality Explained – “Can they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?”
English football fans will be familiar with the phrase, “Can they do it on a cold rainy night in Stoke?”
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.
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.
Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger described the side as acting like a “rugby” team and “totally unacceptable” after Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross broke Aarons Ramsey’s leg when the teams faced that season.
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.
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.
Stoke City’s 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.
Leaving the cold, rainy night for Spanish sunshine
Jose Luis Mato Samartin, known commonly as Joselu, left the Premier League in 2019, with an uninspiring 10 goals in 3 seasons. The journeyman returned to La Liga and started to improve his performances.
He scored 17 goals last season for La Liga side, Espanyol, last season before joining Madrid on loan in the summer. Although struggling for game time this season at Madrid he has scored a respectable 5 Champions League goals and 10 league goals for the Spanish side. 30 of his 44 appearances this season have been off the bench, despite Madrid not having a top-level striker at the club.
He will be looking at making an impact this weekend after his potential career reviving cameo in the Champions League semi- final clash with Bayern Munich in the previous round. Joselu, the loanee striker from Espanyol showed his elite mentality when he came off the bench in the 81st minute to score a brace and ultimately secure Madrid’s place in the final.
Canadian Alfonso Davies scored midway through the second half to give German giants, Munich the advantage. To the surprise of many watching, England star Harry Kane was subbed off three minutes before the equaliser, for another for ex-stoke striker Choupo-Moting.
The now 35 year old Cameroonian was bought by Stoke City to replace struggling striker Joselu in 2017 when he was sold to Newcastle for £4.5 million, offering Joselu a valuable chance to prove his worth.
Tony Pulis’s Stoke side has earned a place in the folklore of football through their resilience and toughness. The phrase is now used all around Europe, including in the Bundesliga when Thomas Müller gave reference to the saying when asked about Bayern Munich’s hard-fought victory over Stuttgart, comparing it to how British fans would see a win over Stoke City on a cold night.
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