Speaking to the News of the World, the former Marseille
midfielder revealed that manager Arsene Wenger’s decision to take
him off in the final still hurt him and that this was the prime
motivation for his decision to leave north London.
“My biggest disappointment was playing only 18 minutes in the
Champions League final. Wenger killed me when he took me off,”
explained Pires.
“For that reason, I could not stay at Arsenal and I moved to
Villarreal.
“The final was played in Paris. All my family were there and I
really suffered.”
The 35-year-old also tipped his Primera Division side to beat the
Gunners and pointed to the dearth of home-grown players in the
Arsenal team as the reason why.
“Arsenal lack English players at the moment. That
ingredient is very important and it’s missing,” explained the
Frenchman.
“When I arrived, there were a lot of English players there and that
is why we won. You need to have a mix in the dressing room. What I
see now is that they lack that mix.
“I’m sure Arsenal won’t be happy with the Euro draw. The only thing
in my head is to knock them out."
