Arsene Wenger wasn’t known for fiery outbursts or losses of temper during his time at Arsenal, but was instead renowned for his cool and composed charisma.
The Frenchman spent 22 years in North London, leading the Gunners to three Premier League titles and seven FA Cups.
Despite facing significant adversity and public scrutiny, particularly in the latter stages of his tenure, the tactician largely remained calm and non-confrontational.
However, Ray Parlour has revealed that, behind the scenes, Wenger had various ways of managing his players, including losing his rag when he needed to.
Ray Parlous reveals how Arsene Wenger managed Robert Pires at Arsenal
One of Wenger’s prized possessions during his team’s successful period in the early 2000s was Robert Pires, a maverick wide man who constantly produced for Arsenal in the final third.
Pires scored 84 goals in 284 appearances for the Gunners across six years at the club, before leaving for Villarreal in 2006.
Wenger substituted Pires in the Champions League final in Barcelona in that year, which prompted the Frenchman to depart N5.
This abrupt decision to leave the club after being hooked in the Euorpean final makes more sense after hearing Parlour’s account of Pires, and how Wenger personally managed the wide man.
Speaking on talkSPORT back in 2020, ‘the Romford Pele’ revealed that the legendary winger was an ‘arm around the shoulder’ type of character, and this way of treating the player sparked Wenger into shouting at Arsenal legend Pat Rice.
“Robert Pires was a prime example,” Parlour said. “You could never really have a go at him, Robert Pires, if he wasn’t tracking back because he was so good going forward.
“If you had a go at him he’d go into his shell – he wouldn’t want the ball. So Arsene Wenger knew exactly the characters that he could have a go at.
“I remember Pat Rice, came into half-time in one game when Robert wasn’t playing well, and Pat went to have a shout at him, and Arsene went ‘no shut up Pat!’
“He said, ‘keep going Robert, keep getting the ball’, because you knew if you had a good at him, you might as well take him off. He wouldn’t respond to that.
“Other players would respond to people having a go at them. He [Wenger] had to know his characters, who he could really have a go at, so he knew how they would respond to it.”
What Robert Pires has said about Arsene Wenger and that substitution
While the Arsenal Invincibles are very cordial with Wenger nowadays, it’s well documented that Pires and the former manager fell out after the Champions League final incident.
With Parlour’s comments on Wenger’s man-management of Pires, it’s clear that the coach knew very well how the substitution against Barcelona might affect the player, but he had to make the decision for the team on the day.
However, Pires clearly didn’t respond well to the decision, admitting he left Highbury at the time because of it.
Speaking to L’Equipe (via the Mirror) Pires said: “At no point did I think I’d be the one coming off.
“I didn’t even look at Arsene. For me, he was going to take off [Alexander] Hleb or my friend [Cesc] Fabregas, because I could help in attack and I have that very good technical relationship with Henry. It’s not arrogance.
“So I’m there, calm, super confident and Titi (Henry) tells me I’m the one coming off.
“‘What?’ and I see the number 7 on the board. It’s awful. Awful!
“I wait for it to calm down, and then I tell myself, ‘what I want is for us to win’. Two days after when I told him I was leaving… basically, it triggered my exit.
“He [Wenger] wasn’t expecting it. I also needed to move on to something else.
“After the final, there was like a rupture… It was a horrible week. I learn that I’m not in the squad for the World Cup, I play 17 minutes in the final and we lose it… I’ve known better!”
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