PORT VALE striker Tom Pope tweeted last summer he would love to face John Stones every week — boasting he would score FORTY a season.
And today he will get his chance to come up against the Manchester City and England defender at the Etihad in the FA Cup.
Tom Pope will get the chance to prove he can score against John StonesCredit: Dave Pinegar – The Sun
Stones is expected to return to Pep Guardiola’s team for the third-round tie after fully recovering from a hamstring injury.
Following England’s 3-1 loss against Holland in June, Pope tweeted: “Just watched the highlights of the England game! I know I’m a League Two player, I know he plays for England.
“I know he’s on £150k a week, I know he’s a million times better player than me but I’d love to play against John Stones every week! I’d get 40 a season!”
He then used the hashtags “soft” and “weakas****”.
In another tweet, Pope wrote: “As a targetman, you could wear him like a Johnny. Just absolutely zero aggression. A targetman’s dream.”
So it was probably written in the stars they would get drawn against each other in one of the cups. But Pope, 34, insists — although he meant no ill-will or offence towards Stones — he stands by his tweets.
He said: “He’s world class but isn’t very physical.
“I’d love to play against someone like that every week rather than a League Two 6ft 5in meathead who wants to butt you at the back of the head.
“My tweets have been taken slightly out of context. People have been texting me, ‘Ha! Ha! See you against John Stones now’.
“But the chances of me getting into their box and dominating their centre-halves are slim.
“But if I was going to the Etihad as me playing for Liverpool instead of Port Vale and getting quality crosses put into the box by Trent Alexander-Arnold, I’d fancy my chances against him because I thrive on balls into the box, that’s my strength.
“That’s why I score goals and have had the career I’ve had. I get on the end of crosses.
“If you were Andy Carroll, you’d be licking your lips.
“I wasn’t trying to belittle him. I said he was a million times a better footballer than I am, technically he’s brilliant.
But for a big man, a big striker like me, I go out every week and watch the weaknesses in a centre-half and think, ‘I’ll play off him’.
“People have tweeted me, ‘See if you can score a hat-trick against Man City in the FA Cup’. But I’m not playing for Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and the like.
“From a personal perspective, as a targetman I’d rather play against a John Stones every week than a Vincent Kompany.”
Pope says he will seek out Stones, 25, before kick-off today for some banter and make sure there are no hard feelings.
Stones looks set to start in defence for Man Citys FA Cup tie with Port ValeCredit: PA:Press Association
He said: “I’ll try to have a laugh with him. I’ll also tell him it wasn’t meant to be derogatory.
“Yes, people look at it and say, ‘He’s taking the mick out of John Stones’. But I’ve already said he’s a world-class defender on the ball.
“He’s playing for Manchester City for God’s sake, not in League Two like me.”
Pope is a true character. Until recently he managed local Sunday league team Sneyd, won a number of amateur golf competitions and has his own local newspaper column where he discusses a whole range of subjects.
He said: “We had to jack in the Sunday league football at the end of last season because it’s dying at that level.
“Lads don’t want to play and are constantly letting you down.
“When I played Sunday league football before I went pro, it was full of semi-pro players. They’d earn £200-£300 on a Saturday and then turn out on a Sunday morning.
“Now lads are getting £20 petrol money and refusing to play Sunday morning because they think they’ve made it.
“It did my head in trying to get players out of bed to play.
“I used to ferry them around to games and often you’d have to knock on their doors to wake them up!
“It was a nightmare — I was giving up my time and effort to run the team but the players couldn’t be bothered, so I just thought, ‘Shove it’.
“My best golf days are behind me now. I broke my wrist at Bury a few years back and it’s all gone t*ts up. My chipping has gone. I feel like I’ve got one hand.”
But Pope is enjoying his media work and would love to become a pundit when his playing days are finally behind him.
He said: “I’d certainly be different. Look, people like Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville are brilliant.
“Yet sometimes you see BBC pundits and they might be knowledgeable and insightful but you feel they have only been given a day to live sometimes.
“There’s not much emotion there and it’s very dire. I’d brighten it up a little bit.
“I do a column in a Stoke newspaper. I know the editor and he invited me. It’s great because I talk about anything, including non-football stuff.”
Pope has been fortunate enough to play at Anfield for Crewe in 2008 in the League Cup, so does not expect today’s trip to the Etihad to trump that.
The forward almost grabbed an unlikely late leveller at the death in a 2-1 defeat.
And he said: “The atmosphere was incredible. I knew it would be good but not as much as I experienced that night.
“Going to the Etihad will be great but Anfield is one of the most special stadiums in the country.
“However, it will be a great occasion for Port Vale and myself. All my family and lots of friends are coming to watch.
“The key will be to not concede an early goal and to not get humiliated.”
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Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
