Eager Robert Pires was turned down for Arsenal job

Robert Pires has confirmed that he applied to Unai Emery for a position with his backroom team at Arsenal only to find that there is no vacancy at present.

“Yes, this is true,” said the former Gunners ‘Invincible’. “My plan was to work with him on the staff because I know the club, I know the players. For me, it would be interesting to work with him because I know his philosophy. I know he is a very good manager.

“I want to learn. For now, I don’t want to be a manager because I think it is a very good job but it is too tough. You have a lot of responsibility. Maybe it was a good start like this to work with him on the staff.

“That is why I sent a message to Unai Emery and Unai Emery replied to me and said, ‘Yeah, but we need to talk with the club.’ The club said ‘Maybe it is a good idea but we already have Steve Bould.’ So I said, ‘No problem, I respect your decision.’ Maybe one day, I hope.”

Pires says he fully expected an Arsenal resurgence under Emery.

“I am not surprised as I know Unai Emery, he is like a warrior, he won a lot of titles when he was manager of Sevilla, with PSG. It’s not so easy to replace Arsene Wenger but he has his philosophy, he puts good discipline on the dressing room, he can make a very good decision, good, not for him but for the squad.

“I don’t know if they can win the title as Man City and Liverpool play well since the beginning but I hope they can reach the top four.“

And victory in Sunday’s North London derby is crucial to that goal, he reckons.

“I think for Arsenal, it is very important to win this game, especially the derby because the impact is very important for the players and the fans. You need to be focused on this game. You need to prepare for this game and, when we play at home, we need to win. We need to try to win all of the games, especially this game against Tottenham because you know this is a big rivalry.”