Arsenal Boss Reveals Legends Were Concerned They Wouldn’t Make It In England

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Thierry Henry and Robert Pires became heroes at the North London club…

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that Thierry Henry and Robert Pires were worried about playing in England when they first arrived, reports the Daily Express.

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The pair both came from abroad, and the Pires was actually scared of the game after watching 30 minutes of a match against Sunderland. Meanwhile unbelievably Henry thought he wasn’t good enough. The striker went on to become the Gunners’ highest ever scorer with 228 goals, while his teammate was a key member of the team that went unbeaten for entire season.

“I remember the first time Robert Pires arrived, I told him that he will sit next to me on the bench against Sunderland and won’t start the game,” Wenger said.”After half an hour he asked me, ‘is it always like that?’ and I said, ‘yes, and it can get worse than that’! It can take time for them to adapt to that.

“Thierry Henry said he was worried his team-mates thought he was rubbish in his first few weeks! It can affect players. But a player like Thierry Henry came out of a negative experience in Italy and it took him a while to find his confidence.”

He added, “Once he found his confidence he became the world-class player he was, but he had a kind of traumatic experience before that and once he got that out of the system it worked well for him. Some players like Pires came from a different league and it took them a few months, but he became a world-class player as well.”

This comes as the Gunners have recently signed Gabriel Paulista from La Liga side Villarreal. With the player unable to speak English there have been some worries about his ability to settle in the country.

The North London club face Crystal Palace on the weekend.

They are in need of the victory in order to keep up in the race for the Premier League top four, with the Gunners currently in fifth, one point behind fourth placed Southampton.

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