It’s almost difficult to remember Robert Pires’ days at Arsenal without Thierry Henry standing close by – a French duo who ruled Highbury for years.
Pires and Henry’s infamous penalty routine when the winger tried to lay the ball off to his Arsenal teammate will never be forgotten, a time when the Gunners could afford a bit of arrogance.
Nowadays Mikel Arteta perhaps wouldn’t take too kindly at all were Martin Odegaard to try and pass a penalty to Kai Havertz for example – it’s a different era.
But harping back to when Pires was in his prime, the Arsenal legend surprisingly skipped Henry’s name when asked about the best player he ever played alongside in his career.
Pires also played with the likes of Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal, but he actually chose a famous international teammate instead.
Robert Pires names the best player he ever played with
Speaking to Optus Sport recently, Pires declared that Zinedine Zidane was the best player he ever took to the pitch with, one of the all-time greats.
And whilst it’s a surprise to see any of Henry’s former teammates not name Arsenal’s famous number 14, Zidane is a more than justifiable choice.
Photo credit should read FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images
READ MORE: He is the Arsenal player who Xavi described as the ‘future of English football’ but he ended up leaving the Gunners for free
Although, it should be noted that Pires also gave some love to Bergkamp in his explanation too, a ‘maestro’ he learned from all the time.
Pires: “Yes I think. Everyone in the world when we talk about football knows Zinedine Zidane because he was one of the best players.
“I’m very lucky because when I played with the national team every morning I played and learned with Zinedine Zidane.
“But when I play for Arsenal every morning I play with Dennis Bergkamp, so for me when you are a young player and you are like a student and you have a good maestro like Bergkamp or Zidane it’s easy to try to learn good football.
“I know now that I was very privileged, it was a privilege for me.”
Zinedine Zidane’s unfortunate record against Arsenal
Of course, it’s worth noting that Pires did actually play against Zidane twice whilst he was at Arsenal.
On the eve of the Gunners facing Real Madrid in a hotly anticipated Champions League quarter-final next week, Pires was actually used as a substitute in both legs of Arsenal’s knockout tie win in 2006 over the Galaticos.
Zidane played 90 minutes in both matches himself, but was ultimately unable to inspire a goal for Madrid who were beaten 1-0 on aggregate.
However, it’s fair to say that Zidane had a pretty decorated career otherwise, a true maverick who won the Ballon d’Or back in 1998.
All that being said, Robert Pires thinks one current Arsenal player is just like Dennis Bergkamp, a talent who some fans in N5 have actually criticised recently.