In his latest exclusive Betway blog, the Arsenal legend discusses the north London derby, the Premier League title race and his relationship with Jeremy Doku.
You never lost a north London derby – what was your mentality like going into matches against Spurs, and did you think about that record when you played them later in your Arsenal career?
Hell yeah, I thought about it.
I didn’t grow up as an Arsenal fan, and when I arrived I didn’t understand how important it was for the fans to beat Spurs. But then in the building you have Pat Rice, Paul Johnson, and all the guys who were Arsenal fans telling you, “You have to beat them.”
I was focused on Man Utd, like, “Why is the derby so important? You want to catch first place, so don’t look at people that are behind you.” But then I started to realise how important it was to beat Tottenham, and then you want to keep that record.
That’s why I celebrated like I did when I scored in the last north London derby at Highbury. I was on the bench because we had a Champions League semi-final, and the boss said he was going to rest me. I said, “What? You’re gonna rest me against Tottenham?”
I came off the bench and scored the equaliser, controlling it with the inside of my foot and toe-poking it straight away into the far corner, and that’s why my celebration was crazy – I didn’t want to lose to Tottenham for the first time in the last derby at Highbury.
It became a thing for me because I became an Arsenal fan, and not losing against them is something I’m always going to cherish.
You scored a famous solo goal against Spurs in 2002. Is that your favourite Arsenal goal?
I like a lot of different goals, but just because it was against Tottenham, it’s different. It’s a good goal, but that finish in the last derby at Highbury was actually way more difficult to execute.
There were other goals that were more difficult, but it’s just about the magnitude of the game. It’s Arsenal v Tottenham.
When you play against Tottenham, Real Madrid and teams like that, people will always remember your goals because of the importance of the game. You can score a tap-in in the last minute of the World Cup final and people will remember it.
But what I love the most about that goal is the celebration. It’s my favourite picture from one of my goals, where I’m on my knees in front of the Tottenham fans and there was a lot of hate, but I love it.
Spurs are unbeaten away from home in the league under Thomas Frank. Is this going to be a challenge for Arsenal at the Emirates?
I never used to like to come back and have a tough game after international duty. Thankfully, Arsenal are playing a team who also have a lot of international players. Sometimes you play a team who stayed for the whole 10 days and they’re waiting for you.
It’s a north London derby, so the intensity will be there. And you’re playing against a team who hasn’t lost away from home.
Against Sunderland, Arsenal encountered something that they usually do to teams. They played the long ball, and it reminded me of my time in the Premier League, where you couldn’t put pressure on any team. Any free kick, throw in or goal kick was in your box, and suddenly you have to win those balls, and they didn’t when Ballard and Brobbey challenged them.
So we will see what’s going to happen against Tottenham. I’m sure that the team is going to be ready. You don’t need anyone to tell you what to do in these games. You know what time it is. You need to wake up. If you don’t know that, that means you don’t understand who you’re playing for.
Arsenal will hope that Viktor Gyokeres will be back for the game. How did you feel he was performing prior to his injury?
It’s always the same thing. You want Gyokeres to play well, and he obviously does stretch the team, he makes the runs of a No. 9 and he holds the ball up. But what you really want, as an Arsenal fan, is the team to do well and find a way to win.
You’re hoping for Gabriel Jesus, Kai Havertz and everyone else to come back – we’re missing a lot of players, and that tells you how big the squad is.
The most important thing is that Mikel Arteta is happy with him.
This game sees William Saliba and Gabriel matched up against Micky van de Ven. Have you ever seen a goal like Van de Ven’s against Copenhagen, and what does it say about him as a player that he can score a goal like that?
Well, it says that he can score a goal like that. Not to downplay it, and of course I also saw his assist against Man Utd last season, but I just think the most important thing is that the team defends well. It’s not just about two centre backs.
When a team attacks well, it’s also because the guys at the back are proactive, beating the line of pressure and making it easier for the striker.
When a team defends well, it’s because the whole team is defending well, not just your two centre backs. Trust me, if your team is not shielding on the counter and winning the second ball, you’re exposed. I don’t care who you are.
But going back to individuals, yes, Van de Ven is outstanding, Van Dijk is outstanding, Gabriel and Saliba are outstanding. They’re strong, difficult to beat, and like everybody they have their flaws, but that’s normal.
Man City look like Arsenal’s main title challengers. How impressed have you been by the way Pep Guardiola has changed his style of play this season?
Very impressed. I never thought he would have allowed his wingers to come inside so early in the build-up like they do. I never thought he would allow his left winger to go on the right. That would never have happened with Pep in the past – two wingers on the same side of the ball, like against Man Utd at home.
Pep has found a way. He had to find his starting 11, and you can see now that Jeremy Doku is clearly the guy on the left, while on the right it changes sometimes with Cherki or Savinho. When you have Phil Foden coming back in form, it changes things, although I think he’s better in that No. 10 position on the right, where he can come back on his left foot and punish you.
We’re still waiting for Rodri to get back to a certain level. I think that’s a tiny bit missing, although Nico Gonzalez played well against Liverpool. Now he has Nico O’Reilly starting to look like the player that everyone thought he was going to be, and they have a freak up front who can score in his sleep.
So if you’re an Arsenal fan, that’s exactly the team that you don’t want on your shoulder, because they know how to win. It’s not great as an Arsenal man to see them coming back to their level. They look like a team about to go on a run.
I think Pep had to deal with having two new assistants and a new way of playing. What you were hoping for while City made that adjustment is that Arsenal could go ahead and take some points, and that’s exactly what happened. But it was always going to be a battle.
Jeremy Doku mentioned that you’ve been giving him advice. How have you seen him evolve his game from when you worked with him in the Belgian national team?
Like everyone, you need guidance. You need to understand how you can evolve, and Jeremy has done it. Now, he just needs to do it more often than not.
Unfortunately, he plays for Man City, but he’s lively and that’s what you want to see in football – people taking people on. Yes, you’re going to fail, but the reward is in the risk.
I remember when he announced himself on the scene in Euro 2020 against Italy, where he was unstoppable. He nearly scored a goal just like the one against Liverpool, but against Italy it just went wide.
He has no limit in terms of what he can achieve. It’s up to him to do it. The player I saw with the Belgium team compared to the player that he is right now, it’s outstanding to see how he has evolved. How he went about it will stay between me and him.
He’s a guy that I speak to, and we’ve had a relationship since I coached him. All the players that I coached have my number and they know that if I can help them, they can reach me. That relationship with those players is what I value the most.
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