Former Arsenal defender Lauren shared details of the “incredibly competitive” training sessions of the club dominated by Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp’s likes.
“If there was a game, Wenger would say: ‘Who is the ref?’ Pat Rice, Paul Johnson, Boro Primorac … No one wanted,” Lauren told The Guardian. “Wenger was clever – he got out of there, went to the corner, hid, and just watched. Pat was the bravest and he’d finished up fighting with others.”
Indeed, Wenger would often just sit back and watch players fighting during intense intra-squad games as the French manager didn’t want to get between the most competitive stars of his squad.
And fights there were many: “There was argument after argument: Ljungberg with this guy, Keown with that guy, me with another guy. Dennis Bergkamp was a genius but he was also extremely competitive, so we won.”
