Robert Pires arrived to fill the void left by Marc Overmars, after a slow start he ended up becoming better in an Arsenal shirt than Overmars ever was- showing that Arsenal got a bargain after they paid just £6million for him. For that money they got six years of service and the player was huge. FA Cup winner on three occasions, Premier League winner twice and a key-part of both the invincible team and the 2006 Champions League side. Pires scored beautiful and important goals, as well as many assists that put the ball on a plate for the strikers that he served which included Henry, Bergkamp, Wiltord and Van Persie. Pires was voted the sixth greatest Arsenal player of all-time and it's easy for everyone to see why. The Frenchman was a central figure in the Arsenal side for years and helped to develop the beautiful passing game that the North London club still use to this day. Over 200 appearances and over 50 goals, Pires made an impact all over the pitch and was a nightmare for defenders to handle. Since Pires left, Arsenal have tried time and time again to develop a midfielder that could be as important to the club as Pires once was but they've failed so far, despite having players like Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott and more. That, in itself, is testament to how great a player Robert Pires was and he owes his entire Arsenal career to one man- Arsene Wenger.
Josh has had work featured in the Evening Gazette and on Newcastle United website. He is a Multimedia Journalism student at Teesside University and runs a successful sports blog. He also enjoys films, comics and TV, writing about anything he can. Josh has recently started writing his first of what he hopes will be many books.
