As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Former Arsenal and France midfielder Robert Pires has revealed that Arsene Wenger's decision to substitute him in the biggest club game of his career convinced him to leave the club.
The former Marseille man scored 62 league goals for the Gunners, guiding them to two Premier League titles and three FA Cups.
But speaking exclusively in the September issue of FourFourTwo magazine - out now - the 36-year-old admitted that he is still haunted by Wenger's decision to haul him off the pitch only 18 minutes into the 2006 Champions League final against Barcelona in Paris.
Pires was dragged off by Wenger after mad-cap German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann had been given his marching orders for bringing down Barcelona's Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto'o, and the Frenchman is evidently not the sort to bury the hatchet.
"I will never forget that," Pires told FourFourTwo. "I knew Villarreal wanted me but I hadn't made a decision, yet what happened in the final left me feeling very bad. That was the end; my mind was made.
"I knew a player had to go off after that red card but I never thought it would be me. When I saw it was my number, it killed me."
The matter was made worse by the fact that the European showpiece - which Arsenal went on to lose 2-1 to Barca - was played in his homeland with all of his family watching from the stands, leaving Pires itching for a chance to get his own back.
"I didn't want to kill Wenger, but Jens? Yeah, I'd have killed the German! Bastard! It was the worst moment of my career. When I saw the number I thought, no, no, it can't be!"
It proved to be the final straw for the out-of-contract Frenchman, who decided to bring down the curtain on his illustrious six-year Arsenal career and join Villarreal in Spain.
Deserved so much better than that. Still can't believe fucking Hleb was kept on instead, especially with such little experience (both at Arsenal and in big match environments).
It's worth repeating that Pires was infinitely classy during the entire night. I can't think of many other players who wouldn't have gone ballistic, and I fully understood (and approved) of his decision to leave. After that incident, AW didn't deserve him on his books anymore, quite frankly.
It was that moment, coupled with Bergkamp's departure and the move to a 'foreign' stadium all happening together, that spelled the end of what I formerly knew as Arsenal. It's been a pretty empty experience ever since, for me anyway.
Edit: Oh, and I was delighted when Villarreal were drawn out of the hat as our CL opponents. I made sure to get a ticket, wore my 2005/06 home shirt with 'Pires 7' on the back, and chanted his name all night long. I'm glad he was appreciative of the fans that night.
The only downer was some utter cock in the tube on the way to the stadium, who'd spotted my shirt. All I heard was, "Pires?! He don't even no fucking play for us no more". And award for 'thickest *word censored* of the year' goes to...
Bring Back Pires wrote:Deserved so much better than that. Still can't believe fucking Hleb was kept on instead, especially with such little experience (both at Arsenal and in big match environments).
It's worth repeating that Pires was infinitely classy during the entire night. I can't think of many other players who wouldn't have gone ballistic, and I fully understood (and approved) of his decision to leave. After that incident, AW didn't deserve him on his books anymore, quite frankly.
It was that moment, coupled with Bergkamp's departure and the move to a 'foreign' stadium all happening together, that spelled the end of what I formerly knew as Arsenal. It's been a pretty empty experience ever since, for me anyway.
Edit: Oh, and I was delighted when Villarreal were drawn out of the hat as our CL opponents. I made sure to get a ticket, wore my 2005/06 home shirt with 'Pires 7' on the back, and chanted his name all night long. I'm glad he was appreciative of the fans that night.
The only downer was some utter cock in the tube on the way to the stadium, who'd spotted my shirt. All I heard was, "Pires?! He don't even no fucking play for us no more". And award for 'thickest c**t of the year' goes to...
All that was missing was the word 'innit?' Was he Italian/Greek or one of the many under-educated youth from this country?
It was downhill all the way after that night.Pires Bergkamp Cole never played for us again.Campbell didnt for 4 years.Henry only played half a season.And that crunt Almunia gave us a preview of what we were going to get in the future
donaldo wrote:It was downhill all the way after that night.Pires Bergkamp Cole never played for us again.Campbell didnt for 4 years.Henry only played half a season.And that crunt Almunia gave us a preview of what we were going to get in the future
I think that was Reyes' last match too. Although not many folk seem to like him, I thought he was pretty good (for a while). I probably have rose-tinted memories of him purely because he was in the Invincibles squad.
I remember his first season, where he struggled initially. I used to watch from the North Bank Lower. Some total cock was ripping into Pires saying he was shit.
Finally I couldn't take anymore and told him he was a complete a prick who didn't know anything about football. I'd seen glimpses of his ability and knew that once he became acclimatised to the English game he would be a great player.
Anyways i think history has shown that I was correct in my assessment
he was injured a fair bit that season if i remember so that may have been the thinking... with 10 men arsene wanted some real runners
hleb and reyes and freddie did a great job supporting henry and defending.
i personally woulda taken off hleb, reyes even freddie ahead of bobby that night. was gutting. but if we had won i think he would have ultimately understood.
Vince wrote:And if I remember well he had already signed at Villareal before the game. It was kind of official.
I didn't think so, I thought he was holding out for a longer-term deal from Arsenal still?
The worst part of that red-card was seeing him trudge off. I would have HAPPILY seen Cashley substituted then and given the reception he deserved. Afterall, it was that fucker playing Eto'o onside when Jens got sent off.
Gloomy night.
However the loss in 2000 against Galatasaray was much more painful to me. In 2000 we were much better, in 2006 Barca was the better team imo.
