Andy Murray may be licking his wounds after yesterday’s four-set French Open final defeat to Novak Djokovic, but he can at least console himself with the fact he recently spent quality time in the company of Robert Pires.
The gloriously handsome ‘Invincible’ was challenged by the Scot, a long-standing Gooner, to a game of pétanque in the build up to Roland Garros and the duo indulged in an informal chinwag about EURO 2016 and Arsenal.
Here are a couple of snippets from the meeting, including the background to Murray’s Arsenal love and Bobby’s assessment that Arsene Wenger must buy English players if he’s to win the Premier League again.
AM: “I supported Hibs when I was growing up, my grandfather played for them, and then when I started travelling a lot I couldn’t watch Scottish football on the TV anymore. I started following Arsenal because of the way your team played.”
AM: “Do you think there will ever be another team that will go the whole season without losing?”
RP: “I think no…”
AM: “Not in the Premier League…”
RP: “Not in the Premier League…”
AM: “You never mention Tottenham…”
RP: “Tottenham? No, no, no…[cue most Gallic finger wagging expression ever and both men laugh]. I think it’s not possible. They finish always in Arsenal’s shadow, you know. The shadow [laughs].”
AM: “Who is the best player you played with?”
RP: “Everybody thinks Thierry Henry and that’s normal, because you know Thierry…he was unbelievable. But for me the best, and I learned a lot, was Dennis Bergkamp.”
AM: “An unbelievable player.”
RP: “Arsenal need English players.”
AM: “Why do you think that is? Is it because of the physical nature of the game?
RP: “The Premier League is very difficult, it’s very tough. It’s not only in the game but every morning in the training. On the team you need everything.”
AM: “That balance between the technical players and the physical…”
RP: “You know football, it’s good…” [flashes winning smile]
AM: “I watch a lot, I don’t know how much I know.”
RP: This is true…I don’t know if you know [John] Stones, he plays for Everton. He will be a good player for Arsenal. I can imagine Stones and Koscielny at the back. Imagine. It would be a good defence, I think.”
‘When Andy met Robert Pires’ is the second in a Standard Life sponsored series that shows Murray meeting sports people “he admires for their personal commitment to giving all it takes to master their dreams.”
You can watch the full video below.
I totally agree with you, RP.
I can’t bare to watch one of the most irritable knobheads in the world talk to my dear Bobby. Besides, Bobby doesn’t know how to talk to runner ups, only winners.
For what it’s worth, I really like Murray. Both as a man and a tennis player. At least he says what he wants with conviction.
..and he is an Arsenal fan
AM gets hate because he’s competitive and he wears his heart on his sleeve.
Think he’s a fantastic player and he’s always honest. Fair play to him.
That much is true. He just comes across as really smug and arrogant to me.
He just comes across as a gamer to me. Someone who buries his head either in tennis or his games console and tries not to talk to people. Natural that he may not seem the most personable but I like him.
you across as really smug and arrogant to me. I really can’t bear to watch you come on here and comment.
shared that with the late great Ali. people who think what they think and say it regardless of public opinion deserve respect.
So you’re saying he can’t talk to the Arsenal team?
You forgetting two FA Cups or do you just have selective (PL success) memory?
So the 30-odd tournament wins, including 2 Grand Slams, don’t count as success?
Murray was a winner walking away from Dunblane.
And do you have selective memory on the Olympics, Wimbledon etc? I know you were probably trying to be funny with your runner-up comment but you are digging yourself deeper.
Boom!
And what, pray tell, have you won so far in your illustrious career? Andy is a top, top player who gives his all everytime. What else really matters?
How many grand slams and Olympic medals have you won?
If Stones (for Arsenal) and Murray can both stop the ball going in the net everyone would be happier.
I respectfully disagree about Stones or any English player for that matter.
We shouldn’t look at one’s nationality; the main thing is that the player should improve the squad.
I agree though you may get banned by Arseblog for such statements.
Given he worships Robert Pires, who made the statement.
A sense of humour needed I’m afraid.
Why would he be banned for saying that? We don’t ban anyone…we just don’t publish comments that don’t adhere with our comment policy.
I didn’t think he would for a second, see my explanatory comment mentioning humour.
What about freedom of speech?
Unforutnately, the FA require us to look at nationality.
But we still need to incorporate 8 English players into the squad.
You’re wrong. We’re an English club, we need an English heart. Yeah we’re an international business now, but the majority of our home fans are English and we like to have people we can relate to more easily. You may disagree, but I’d wager you’re either not English, or rarely attend games. What we need is a good balance, otherwise we will end up with a team full of mercenaries with no understanding of the history and tradition of the club.
We’ve been trying to get an english heart, and the english players are the ones that don’t progress. I’m english and I go to games, and I think that our foreign players absolutely get and understand Arsenal and it’s traditions, and I actually like them better than our english players, so I think that you’re wrong. The only reason we need english players is because we have a quota, and I agree it’s nice to have homegrown players who’ve come through the academy, but the ones that are succeeding are also mostly foreign, and I don’t care where they come… Read more »
Calum Chambers could be better than Stones if he is given the space and playing time to grow. Much more composed and technically adept. We would be better off investing in Chambers’ development than coughing off an extortionate price for Stones. That’s my opinion, anyway.
*coughing up
Totally agree with you on that one. Stones is one of those overhyped british players that, of course has a bright future ahead of him, but at the time isn’t really anything special. Besides arseblog has talked alot about how Chambers hasn’t progressed much this season because of little game time, and isn’t at the level we need him to be if he’s going to be an Arsenal regular, but Stones haven’t had a good season either. He played 30+ games for Everton this season. A team that’s been inconsistent and finished below mid-table.
A loan move back to Southampton (or other PL club) for chambers would do him the world of good, but whoever chooses his temporary club needs to make sure that he will be laying in a side with a decent playing style, and also that chambers will get a full season of games under his belt (not what happened to Gnabry last season at WB)
*playing in a side
Robert Pires the man the legend
I just fainted. Get me some water.
yes, we have to take Vardy, Stones and Mahrez.
Also Koulibaly and Murillo
Imagine if we had Granit and Stones at Arsenal!
The Sun’s headline writers would have a meltdown.
Well, the sun doesn’t actually need anything substantial to come up with some stupid shit. Take the Ali headline recently…. They really are a bunch of lazy fuckers trying to sell papers by courting controversy.
Most fans say that Henry is the greatest gooner, but all the players who have played with both, say the best is Bergkamp, which I agree with. Also Pires and Henry have now said that Bergkamp is the best they’ve played with. Is Bergkamp better than Zidane at his peak? That’s a tough one.
I am a fan of both players but while Bergkamp are amongst football’s best, Zidane remains in an elite class of players. Three times player of the year class
Yes, because he did his stuff for a team (ours) that wasn’t full of superstars, just solid hard-working Englishmen.
Zidane…..wet Wednesday…..Stoke. 😛
Awkward comparison really.
Wow never actually considered comparing them at their peaks even though I idolised both Zidane and Bergkamp. Zidane would take hold of a midfield with pure technique, and he had a never-ending collection of shoulder-drops, head-fakes, turns, dribbles and first touches. He was probably the master at taking opponents out of the game with that first touch. People talk about his performance in France’s 2006 quarter-final win vs Brazil as one of the all-time greats and a peak Zidane performance, but his game against Spain at Euro 2000 might have been even better. He pulled out tricks you’re not supposed… Read more »
I don’t know, but I love them both. Incidentally, I started watching Zidane around the same time I started losing my hair in my mid-20s, and he made it seem like it was ok to be balding, so I’ll be forever grateful for the way he got me through a mentally fragile time. Now, of course, I don’t give a shit, but when you’re young man, going bald is like the worst thing ever.
I love Bobby….
If only Djokovic wasn’t so darned good, Murray would’ve won a few more Grand Slam titles 🙁
Didn’t he and his brother get each other Arsenal shirts for Christmas?
Yes, he can come across as boring, but I think that’s generally because he finds the whole process boring. The conference from just before the French Open when he was talking about his relationship with Amelie Mauresmo showed that when there’s something he’s interested in saying, he can be quite eloquent and interesting.
Plus, he’s a gooner, so that can only be a good thing.
His brother, Jamie, is Man U fan though :p
Yep, you’re right. I somehow only remembered the Alexis shirt Andy got and must have blocked out that part.
I always thought Andy was the better of the two 😉
I’ve always considered Murray an absolute petulant scrote of a man. Now I learn he’s a Gooner. What a stick in the spokes that revelation is.
U thought he was a Mourinho-Scholes hybrid?
Stones would be a good signing but I would rather prefer benatia form bayern … Communication between defense line is very important . So stones considering an English player , young and talented would be a spot on signing. I take my words back. Stones would be better than benatia. Also benatia is injury prone and that too in bundesliga. I reckon he would be able to appear for even half of the matches in premiere league as it is far more physical than bundesliga.
I’m not English and I don’t like Andy (where there is no Federer there is no tennis)but I am starting to like him because he is a fan of my beloved Arsenal.
Before RP said we needed John Stones, I would have thought we might need a bit more grit and experience at the back.
If RP says we need John Stones, we need John Stones
We need stones, not John Stones.
IMHO, Stones is not good enough for Arsenal, so therefore we should not seek to buy him. He was mediocre at best for a fair-to-middling Everton team that underperformed for almost the entire season. There are for better options than Stones available.
Not sure what all the hype surrounding Stones is about. Everton were hardly that water tight at the back last season. Chambers was a revelation for Ston at Rback when we bought him. Then Arsene got slightly distracted trying to convert him either into a holding mid or a Cback following an assured display in pre-season a couple of seasons back. That to me was a massive mistake because we paid for it defensively, Wenger neglecting tor einforce at Cback (and then Koscielny surprise surprise got knock) leaving Metersecker to struggle positionally with the inexperienced Chambers or Monreal. It did… Read more »
I don’t think we need stones per se, i think he would be 1 way to improve the squad, but there are others. The nationality of the player is only moderately useful in that he counts towards the requisite number.
I think it’s worth pointing out that the English players that Pires played with is different from the English players at Arsenal now.
Adams, Dixon, Winterburn, Keown , Bould, Parlour, Wright, Seaman,
Vs
Wilshire, Walcott, Gibbs, Corporal, Ox, Welback , Chambers
So the bottom line is, Arsenal does now need more English players.
We need more committed players who give their all Everytime they put on the Arsenal shirt
*not
Is it just me or does RP look like Jon Hamm in that picture?
I can just imagine RP sat at an ad executives desk with a cigar and some whiskey. He’s refined like that, you see.