Robert Pires: ‘Unai Emery is a warrior – it’s like a revolution at Arsenal’ Exclusive interview: Pires talks Wenger, Emery, Torreira, Guendouzi and how his former teammates are getting on in management

“Of course, it’s totally different now that Arsene is no more on the bench,” says Robert Pires, when asked whether it now feels surreal to watch Arsenal. Having played under Wenger for six of his 22 years as manager – in which time they won two league titles and two FA Cup finals together and were only 15 minutes away from winning the Champions League – it would make sense for Pires to find his former mentor’s absence more surreal than most.

“The most important thing is to say: thank you very much for everything during 22 seasons. Thank you, because I think Arsene changed something in the Premier League. He brought many foreign players, especially the French, and after that he built the new stadium, so this point is important: Arsene, thank you.

“But I think the sensation [of supporting Arsenal] now is not so different, because when we talk about watching Arsenal it is very important at the end of the season to win something. I think this squad, they can lift one of the main trophies and this is the new objective. We have changed the manager, we have changed the CEO [Ivan Gazidis], so I think it’s like a revolution inside Arsenal. Maybe sometimes you need that.” Doubtless most Arsenal fans would agree.

‘Emery is like a warrior’

Pires, now 45 and long having abandoned the tousled mop which he sported as a player, lives up to expectations as an interviewee. Upsettingly handsome, exceptionally French and master of the knowing smile, he sips on a suave, cool black coffee while I neck an extremely naff milky tea. There are still shades of ‘The Laughing Cavalier’ caricature of his playing days, but with a little less insouciance and a little more sagesse. More than anything, he speaks about Arsenal with the intensity and seriousness of a man whose relationship with the club is not so much professional partnership as long-term romance.

Asked what has most impressed him about Unai Emery’s management so far, he says: “I know Unai because of when he used to manage Sevilla and especially Paris Saint-Germain. He is a winner, he has won a lot of titles: the Europa League with Sevilla, Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain.

“I think he’s put a good spirit inside the dressing room. I think Arsenal have found a new face, maybe with a new philosophy, because this guy is like a warrior. You can see him when he’s on the bench: he’s a little bit crazy, but good crazy. He wants to help, every minute, the players. You need to talk, you need to have good communication with the players. I think this is a new thing for them, but a good thing.”

With Wenger often criticised for leaving his players to figure things out for themselves – a virtue in the days of the ‘Invincibles’ but perhaps a hindrance with the less celebrated squads of his twilight years – Pires admits that Emery may have an edge in that regard. “Maybe this is one of the differences between Arsene Wenger and Unai Emery,” he says. “But management is very difficult, you need to find a good communication with the players. Sometimes Arsene is more quiet, Unai Emery is more – how do you say? – expressive.”

Famously prolific against Tottenham as a player, Pires talks enthusiastically about Emery’s in-game management in the north London derby and pinpoints his decisive substitutions as another positive. It was reported after the game that Pires had colluded with Lucas Torreira on his wild celebration after he’d scored the fourth and final Arsenal goal, with the Uruguayan midfielder booked by Mike Dean for ripping his shirt off. Pires denies responsibility, however. “It’s very funny. The day before the derby against Tottenham, I was at the training ground and I said to Lucas in Spanish: ‘If tomorrow you score against Tottenham, how are you going to celebrate the goal?’ He said: ‘No, I don’t know. I can’t say.’

“He was very happy, because it was his first goal and it’s a special goal because it’s against Tottenham. I said after the game: ‘Welcome to the circle’. Not all players get to score against Tottenham, so he was happy. Now he’s more popular! But I think he’s been very good, one of the best, since the beginning.”

Future talents

Pires still spends time behind the scenes at Arsenal, both as an ambassador for the club and as a regular visitor to London Colney. “I have a good relationship with Unai Emery so I can go to the training ground, I can train with players coming back from injuries,” he says. “I was with Laurent Koscielny, two weeks ago I was with Stephan Lichtsteiner, so I can train with some players. I’m a lucky man because I’m like a free [agent] with the team. I have a good relationship with the new staff, for me it’s nice.”

Having often shadowed Wenger, “just watching and listening”, over the last few seasons, Pires is well placed to comment on the new generation coming through at the club. He was said to be keeping a close eye on Reiss Nelson, with the young forward getting some one-on-one advice from his iconic predecessor. “I think he’s doing well, I follow him at Hoffenheim,” Pires says. “He’s a very good player, he’s on loan and I think he needed to play, he needed to prove [himself]. Of course he will come back to Arsenal because he is a great player, because he has a lot of potential and a good future, I hope with Arsenal. But I repeat: for him, the most important [thing] is to play every game.

Asked about some of the headline-grabbing goals Nelson has scored this season, Pires says: “He’s a very talented player. You know when you play for Arsenal, if you want to play for Arsenal, you need to be very, very good. Reiss is young, he needs to learn, he knows that’s why he’s on loan in the German league. He needs to play every game but I think he’s on a good road.”

Pires has also been impressed with two youngsters still at Arsenal, namely Matteo Guendouzi and Emile Smith Rowe. “Emile Smith Rowe is one of the best young players Arsenal have, because he can play on the right, on the left, good technique, good vision. The last game in the Europa League he scored. So I think Emile is one of the best. He’s very relaxed when he plays and it’s good for him.”

Read more: Emile Smith Rowe must avoid jaws of Arsenal hype machine

As for Guendouzi, his success has not come out of the blue as far as Pires is concerned. “Matteo, I know him a little bit because he used to play for Lorient in France,” he says. “Of course, for Arsenal fans, for journalists and for some people he has been a great surprise, because nobody knew him when he signed for Arsenal. But he’s a great player, he’s very talented and he’s very confident.”

So Guendouzi’s speedy progress didn’t catch Pires off guard, even a little? “For me, no, it was not a surprise for me.” Just the rest of us, then? “Maybe,” he laughs. “I repeat, because I know him. He plays simple, he runs a lot, he’s like a warrior. I think he’s like Lucas Torreira. For Arsenal it’s very important to have a player like Matteo Guendouzi. He’s a good player and I think he can make a success with Arsenal. I hope so.”

‘I’m not worried for Henry and Vieira’

As for his own future, Pires can’t see himself following fellow former ‘Invincibles’ Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira into management. “Sometimes I’ve said yes, I want to be a manager, and sometimes I say no. Being a manager, I think it is a great job but it is very difficult because you need to be thinking about everything: about the players, about the physio, about the doctor, about the owner – the owner – ” he repeats pointedly, “and because you need to win every game. This is football, this is [what it’s like at] a high level.”

He could be forgiven for not wanting to replicate Henry’s experience thus far, with his former teammate winning only two of his first 10 games as Monaco manager after inheriting a team already in the relegation zone and struggling. Vieira has made a steadier start, with Nice currently 7th in Ligue 1. “I have talked with them both, of course,” says Pires. “For Patrick, the situation is more comfortable because he has managed New York City for three seasons. For him it is easier if you compare with Thierry.

“For Thierry, this is his first season [in management] and he joined Monaco at a very bad moment [for them]. I spoke with him two weeks ago and he told me it’s very difficult to pick a good line-up because they have a lot injured – more than 10 players are injured – so for him it is very difficult.

“But, for Thierry and Patrick, I’m very confident because they love the new job, they love football. So I’m not worried about this, for both Patrick and Thierry.”

Still, though he admitted he would be keen on a coaching role at Arsenal after Wenger’s departure, Pires is happy to follow his old friends’ careers from afar for the moment. “For me, no,” he reaffirms when asked if there is a possibility of him joining Henry and Vieira on the sidelines even in the far future. “I enjoy my life,” he says with a smile, before adding with a Francophone flourish: “For me, actually, it’s perfect, the life.”

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