Pires - Nearly 4 Years On From 'That' Day

I was there at Highbury for the FA Cup 4th round replay against Newcastle. It was a lovely sunny fresh March 2002 morning. The Newcastle fans were in fine voice as ever but I knew who I was there to see. Robert Pires, he was in such a fine vain of form, a key part of France's World Cup team even with Zidane at his peak. Pires was lighting up grounds around the Premiership with his skill. As well as skill going forward he was putting in a ton of work, some people had doubted his spirit but at that time he was really fighting for every ball (not a Vieira but not shying away from a scrap).

The game was going along nicely, it was a lovely sunny day and I fancied an Arsenal win. I clearly remember what happened next, Pires was chasing a loose ball down on the opposite end of the pitch to where I was sat in the lower part of the North Bank stand. As he went in for the ball he was caught by the Newcastle defender. We way Pires fell you could tell it was bad. He didn't make a meal of it, there was no need. His knee ligaments were badly torn, a terrible injury. From that moment I knew we'd seen the last of those great Pires days.

Sure Pires came back and he's been a key man for the Gunners but he's no more than 75% the player he was before this injury. He thinks twice before chasing a lost cause, he's lost a lot of his pace and sadly he's lost any fighting spirit he had.

Robert Pires should bow out this season along with Arsenal legend Dennis Bergkamp. He could go on and give a few years more to a lesser team where he'd be better appreciated.