
Speaking to the News of the World, the former Marseille
midfielder revealed that manager Arsene Wenger’s decision to take him
off in the final still hurt him and that this was the prime motivation
for his decision to leave north London.
“My biggest
disappointment was playing only 18 minutes in the Champions League
final. Wenger killed me when he took me off,” explained Pires.
“For that reason, I could not stay at Arsenal and I moved to Villarreal.
“The final was played in Paris. All my family were there and I really suffered.”
The
35-year-old also tipped his Primera Division side to beat the Gunners
and pointed to the dearth of home-grown players in the Arsenal team as
the reason why.
“Arsenal lack English players at the moment. That ingredient is very important and it’s missing,” explained the Frenchman.
“When
I arrived, there were a lot of English players there and that is why we
won. You need to have a mix in the dressing room. What I see now is
that they lack that mix.
“I’m sure Arsenal won’t be happy with the Euro draw. The only thing in my head is to knock them out."
we wont show mercy either altho ur a former arsenal player..dun worry ![]()