Gary Neville has revealed that he and his teammates always tried to wind up Thierry Henry and Robert Pires when they faced Arsenal.
Arsenal and Manchester United were the two biggest sides in England in the early 2000s, and both teams usually clashed fiercely.
With little to separate the sides most of the time, both sets of players usually tried to have a go at each other to get an advantage.
Gary Neville starred as a fullback for the Red Devils at the time and he was present in many such clashes.
He has recently revealed to Sky Sports that he and his teammates would usually wind up Pires and Henry in a bid to get their minds off the game.
The Frenchmen were at the peak of their careers at Arsenal at the time and they were always pivotal to Arsenal’s success on the pitch.
“I would try and wind up other players if I could and get an influence over them,” Neville told Sky Sports via Football365.
“When you’re playing against Robert Pires and Thierry Henry for Arsenal, we would try and wind them up and do things that would influence them.
Neville added: “We would try to take their minds off the game and niggle at them. I don’t think I could get wound up too much but I got played once.
“I got sent off in a Manchester derby for putting my head towards Steve McManaman. But when you look at the replays there was was a Liverpool thing going on because it was McManaman, [Joey] Barton and [Robbie] Fowler all going at me. I definitely got played that game but it was a bit of a one-off I think.”
He was a snide of a player was Neville and a dirty one as well, he may have cultivated a different image for himself these days but memories are long and I do not forget what he was truly like.
