Robert Pires named his best-ever teammates for Arsenal and France, he didn’t select Thierry Henry

Add as preferred source on Google

Arsenal legend Robert Pires was one of the finest wingers the Premier League has seen, and was a cornerstone of the Invincibles side.

The Frenchman is often overshadowed by his legendary teammates such as Patrick Vieira and Dennis Bergkamp when remembering some of Arsenal’s greatest teams under Arsene Wenger, but the winger was one of the very best players the club has ever had.

At International level, he notched up 79 caps for France, and won a World Cup and European Championship. He was a key player in legendary France squads which contained all-time great players.

Pires named two of his teammates from club and International level who had the greatest effect on him, but striker Thierry Henry was surprisingly overlooked.

Henry is arguably the greatest player in Premier League history, but Pires named two other players before the striker as those who influenced him greatly.

Robert Pires overlooked Thierry Henry as one of his best teammates

Speaking to BBC Match Of The Day Podcast in 2020, Pires was asked who his best teammates were, and he named Dennis Bergkamp and Zinedine Zidane for France and Arsenal.

“I learned a lot from Zinedine Zidane with the national team. Zidane was a leader and a strong character,” Pires stated.

“When I joined Arsenal in 2000 I learned a lot from Dennis Bergkamp. He was the mind of the team and he made things look easy.

“I loved the type of player he was, and today I love watching Kevin de Bruyne. I loved watching Andres Iniesta. Bergkamp was very important for Arsene Wenger.”

Dennis Bergkamp’s influence on Robert Pires

Despite Henry being widely considered to be Arsenal’s best-ever player, it is interesting to note that a lot of players who played for the club alongside Bergkamp believe that the Dutchman’s ability was superior.

In recent weeks, Paul Merson also claimed that Bergkamp was superior to the Frenchman on the ball, whilst Henry possessed more devastating speed.

In Bergkamp and Zidane, Pires has picked two of the greatest technicians in the history of the game, whilst also naming Iniesta as a player he enjoys watching.

It is clear that the Frenchman values technical ability and vision as important, rather than simple physical traits, and given his own incredible ability and style of play, their influence on him is obvious.

Although a goalscoring winger, Pires did not possess blistering pace like Marc Overmars, but an incredible eye for goal and remarkable dribbling ability, as well as a knack for scoring in North London Derbies, as the third-top scorer in the history of the fixture.