View Full Version : Robert Pires whining
kanonier
03 Feb 2007, 10:20 AM
Anyone else been seeing these Pires stories over the last week? I don't really know what the deal it, but it's seeming like Pires sure is a baby:
The latest Robert Pires story from Sky Sports (http://home.skysports.com/list.aspx?hlid=445911&CPID=23&clid=449&lid=2&title=Pires+hits+out+at+Wenger&channel=football_home&)
I understand why someone would be upset about being taken out of a Champion's League game – especially the final. But man, these articles make Pires seem like he is incredibly selfish, and doesn't really care much for the concept of team.
Don't get me wrong, I loved Robert when he was with us. He was a great contributor. I'm just wondering what the motivation behind these articles is, and how Pires can possibly say that 2006 was the "worst" of all his years. Crazy.
Thoughts?
Rewinder
03 Feb 2007, 10:27 AM
He is just trying to justify why he left Arsenal in the first place rather than just sign a 1 year extension.
Him leaving has been better for us because it allowed us to bring in Rosicky, but if we picked up Rosicky anyway AND still had Pires as a backup that would have been great.
kanonier
03 Feb 2007, 10:40 AM
Right, I suppose I knew that all along... I suppose I'm just disappointed in Robert.
hiddi
03 Feb 2007, 10:55 AM
the quotes were from a french paper l'equipe so i'm not too sure how reliable they are. a quick look up shows they were the ones that started the fuss of lance armstrong using the drug EPO which was later said false from UCI. just seems of rehash what was going on as he was on his way out for not wanting a one year deal with us.
Arsenal_pwns_all
03 Feb 2007, 11:46 AM
Well, if we assume that the article is true I wonder who it is the Pires thinks should have been subbed instead of him. Only Ljungberg and to a much lesser extent Hleb should be considered as alternatives. And it would be pure arrogance for Pires to think that they should be subbed instead of him.
But one thing for sure, being subbed in a CL final is certainly the low point of his career.
themodelcitizen
03 Feb 2007, 12:21 PM
Well after so long with Arsenal with such a storied career, the perfect culmination would have been the CL win in Paris. However the red card screwed everything up and it wasn't to be, Pires was the obvious sub but he might have felt that Hleb should've gone and seniority should have prevailed. I don't agree with him but you can understand his frustation after such a great career with Arsenal.
PS. what is it with players leaving Arsenal and suddenly losing form/fitness? Anelka, Overmars/Petit, now Edu and Pires both getting serious injuries before playing a single game in Spain...
Catfish
03 Feb 2007, 01:26 PM
I think Wenger was worried about Barca's pace and youth. Pires
is clearly not as fast as he once was and Hleb is just that much more
agile.
themodelcitizen
03 Feb 2007, 01:35 PM
Yeah agreed, thats why i said Pires was the obvious sub. I felt for him at the time though, sucks for anyone to get subbed off on that stage.
PS. who was it on here who said "Sol Campbell shouldn't be allowed anywhere near that final" in the buildup? :D
shincan
03 Feb 2007, 02:48 PM
Yeah agreed, thats why i said Pires was the obvious sub. I felt for him at the time though, sucks for anyone to get subbed off on that stage.
PS. who was it on here who said "Sol Campbell shouldn't be allowed anywhere near that final" in the buildup? :D
Djourou.
Catfish
03 Feb 2007, 05:13 PM
One more thing, note to Pires:
When one leaves a club, NO MATTE WHAT, never
speak bad about your experience! Even if it is true,
it will only make YOU look bad.
antifan
03 Feb 2007, 05:41 PM
In all fairness to Bob, i think he's talking about Cashley Hole. If so, he does have a point, doesn't he?
Rick B
03 Feb 2007, 05:51 PM
Yeah agreed, thats why i said Pires was the obvious sub. I felt for him at the time though, sucks for anyone to get subbed off on that stage.
PS. who was it on here who said "Sol Campbell shouldn't be allowed anywhere near that final" in the buildup? :D
Me. I am big enough to admit it. Well actually not that big at all, but you get what I mean.............
pookspur
03 Feb 2007, 06:34 PM
that whole 'i would've picked someone else - but i'm above telling you who' stuff comes off as a bit petty. but that's the only thing here worth criticizing, in my honest.
it's most typical of (some in) the UK press to take his "i thought it was a joke" phrase of disbelief and turn it into the critical "wenger's choice...was a joke".
i have to say, when i saw him get pulled for lehmann's mistake (admittedly, someone had to), even I felt sorry for him. that was a pretty harsh fate. one can hardly criticize him for being phenomenally disappointed with the way it played out.
just a couple of weeks ago, he was praising wenger and saying how he'd love to go back to highbury. and while i think that both stories reflect a slight bit of tactlessness (the first toward villareal, this toward wenger and 'someone else'), i suspect that the older one reflects more accurately how he feels about wenger and arsenal.
Shen-O
03 Feb 2007, 07:03 PM
Me. I am big enough to admit it. Well actually not that big at all, but you get what I mean.............
so was I! I also wanted Flamini at LB.
I know Bobby didn't have it in the legs as much as Freddie and Hleb, but I would've liked to have seen one of the latter - I just have...or I guess now, had, much more confidence in Pires.
Henry2007
03 Feb 2007, 07:32 PM
Who else should we have taken off? Pires' strength is the offensive, so since he lacks a bit of the defensive part of the game it's a obvious choice i think...
PFloup
03 Feb 2007, 07:46 PM
Gotta feel for Pires though. His last game as a Gunner in the CL final and he's prematurely subbed out, also his exclusion from French National Team.
Pretty rough given that he imagined quiting football altogether.
Rima067
03 Feb 2007, 09:05 PM
l'Equipe is the biggest sports paper in France. A lot of the French interviews and such you get from Henry/French players are almost always given to L'equipe. They're not The Sun or Tribal Football if that's what you're thinking.. They're absolutely not tabloid.
www.lequipe.fr
Rima067
03 Feb 2007, 09:06 PM
oh, and Pires complaining again? I think i've read that interview before :rolleyes:
Shen-O
03 Feb 2007, 09:19 PM
Who else should we have taken off? Pires' strength is the offensive, so since he lacks a bit of the defensive part of the game it's a obvious choice i think...
I like to think while Henry was skinning defenders left and right and than having to go up against Valdez, that Pires would be there to help put it away. Right place at the right time or so.
Goldy
04 Feb 2007, 02:17 PM
At the time i thought it was the right decision, I remember saying to the guy next to me in the 15th minute that we had not seen Pires touching the ball once in the first 15 min, his response was "is he on the pitch" which summed it up.
I am sure he thinks he could have done something special but the fact remains he had played poorly until the red card and deserved to be pulled off.
I do have to wonder, if it was these days would Wenger have done what he does recently and just leave the team unchanged with a "screw them approach" it worked against Blackburn and yesterday :)