Robert Pirès revealed that when he moved to Arsenal, he was eager to experience English football. “In 2000, I had to choose between Real Madrid, Juventus, and Arsenal. Arsène Wenger kept calling me, saying, ‘I want you to come because Marc Overmars is leaving for Barcelona, and you’re the only player who can replace him.’ In the end, I made my decision because of him. I also knew that my national teammates Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira were already at the club. Both told me that if I came to England, I would enjoy it. They were right,” Pirès recalled.
The French midfielder described what it was like before his first North London derby and didn’t forget to mention Arsenal’s fans. “The whole week leading up to the match, you feel the derby approaching. The atmosphere is completely different from a regular league game. Fans constantly remind you how important the match is and that you simply cannot lose it. Today, I think Arsenal fans like me mainly because of the games against Tottenham, maybe because I played twelve matches against them and scored eight goals. In football, it’s simple—if you want to be popular with the fans, you have to score in the derby,” Pirès said, recalling his success against Spurs.
The full TV version of this episode of the Big Pete documentary series will be available on CANAL+ Sport and the CANAL+ streaming service in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Poland, Myanmar, Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Romania, and Hungary, and on SuperSport in South Africa and Switzerland.