Former Arsenal star, Lauren has gone back in time to the incident of 2003 that saw the Gunner’s players famously confront Manchester United’s Ruud van Nistelrooy following his missed penalty against them.
In a game that could have prevented Arsenal from going through the Premier League season unbeaten, the Gunners visited Old Trafford to face their fierce rivals, Manchester United.
One incident in the game saw Patrick Vieira sent off for a second bookable offence after he appeared to have kicked at Van Nistelrooy.
Arsenal’s players were angry as they believed that the United striker had been too dramatic just to get Vieira sent off, which in all fairness, he was.
Towards the end of the game, Manchester United was awarded a penalty which could have helped them win the game, but van Nistelrooy missed it and several Arsenal players confronted him to mock him.
Lauren was later fined £40,000 and banned for four games for his part in the incident, but the “Invincible” has claimed that he would act the same way if he had another chance.
He told the Handbrake Off podcast: ‘People have asked me many times, “Would you do that again?”. I always say 120 per cent I will do it.
‘I don’t mind about the ban, the £40,000 fine. I don’t care, as long as I protect the people I care for, the people I share the dressing room with, the people I love.
‘Because I always said when I came to Arsenal, I feel like they are my family. We had a very great batch of people.
‘It’s not only about the quality, because we had quality in players like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry, a lot of great, great players, Kanu, but it was something like a bond.
‘We cared about each other on the pitch and outside of the pitch so I can consider Arsenal as my family, so therefore I will do whatever is necessary to protect my family.
‘In this case against United away from home, I think I would do it every single year if it’s necessary.’
Just got to love Lauren and I for one would support any Arsenal players that stand up against bullies and refuse to roll over.
