ARSENE WENGER kept a composed demeanour most of the time during his reign as Arsenal boss.
But according to ex-Gunner Robert Pires, the only occasion the Frenchman blew his lid was when the North London side were thumped 6-1 by Manchester United in 2001.
Pires left Marseille for £5million to join Wenger’s Arsenal revolution in 2000, which pitted him up against United for league titles.
And for the most part of the winger’s six-year spell, Wenger remained cool as a cucumber.
That was until his bitter rival Sir Alex Ferguson’s Red Devils ruthlessly dismantled the Gunners on a fateful day in February at the turn of the century.
The Gunners started the match full of vigour and striker Thierry Henry with the help of Pires cancelled out United’s early opener.
However, Henry’s strike put the fire in United who were up 5-1 by half-time courtesy of a Dwight Yorke hat-trick in the first half-hour of the game.
Wenger couldn’t believe his eyes and he let the dismal Gunners know in the dressing room before the second half how he was feeling with a bunch of expletives.
Pires recalled to The Times: “We were taught a football lesson in the first half, which happened rarely,”
“And what’s more, we equalise, right? I get in down the right, I pull the ball back and Titi [Henry] scores.
“And we thought, ‘Yes, magnificent.’ Ha — and then Manchester United went through the gears.
“They were merciless. Merciless. Bam, bam, bam.
“It was the only time I saw and heard Arsène Wenger get annoyed at half-time. He said some things that weren’t very gentle.”
But Wenger’s harsh words weren’t enough to inspire the Gunners to overturn the deficit and they went on to concede once more in the second period, completing their boss’ misery.
It was the first time had Pires faced the Red Devils since joining Arsenal but it wouldn’t be his last defeat.
Before leaving North London in 2006 to join Villarreal, Pires would go on to lose seven encounters to United, only winning twice and sharing the spoils on four occasions.
Reflecting on his epic battles with United, Pires admitted to The Times: “My record against them is catastrophic and I know it.”
And he puts United’s superiority against him and the Gunners down to Red Devils defender Gary Neville who he would square up with on the right flank of the pitch.
It wasn’t Neville’s strength or tackling ability that caused Pires problems, it was his psychological prowess that gave him the edge over the French ace.
Pires added: “My friend Gary Neville.
“Psychologically, he was always on top of me. He would talk to me all the time, he’d insult me all the time.
“It was in English, so I didn’t understand anything, but I knew they weren’t nice words.
“He was always talking to me, always barging me, always looking for me. He knew how to unsettle me.”
Neville was also joined by ex-United striker Wayne Rooney in winding Pires up and they would always succeed in their endeavours.
Pires continued: “And unfortunately, he won. I had run-ins with him, with Wayne Rooney. All the time.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
