Giggs Reveals Four Arsenal Players He Hated

By Max Wise

Wales manager and former Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs has named four Arsenal players he disliked during his playing days amidst some fiery battles between the Red Devils and the Gunners in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

Manchester United and Arsenal was arguably the most contested game in that period as the two sides were managed by Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger respectively.

Between 1995 and 2004, Manchester United and Arsenal monopolized the English Premier League, with the Red Devils winning it six times and the Gunners coming out on top thrice, before Chelsea broke their stronghold.

Giggs was heavily involved in many of those battles and memorably scored an outrageous solo goal against Arsenal in an FA Cup semifinal replay at Villa Park en route to the Red Devils’ historic treble in 1999.

Giggs has now conceded that the severity of those battles made him hate some members of the Arsenal setup, and he revealed their names in an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail.

"I didn’t like Arsenal," Giggs told the Daily Mail. "I didn’t like Vieira ’cos he was dirty and got away with murder. I didn’t like Petit because he had long hair. I didn’t like Bergkamp.

"I didn’t like Pires even though when you meet him now he’s actually dead nice. I wouldn’t even look at them, didn’t know them and didn’t want to. I wouldn’t allow myself to rate any of them.

"Bergkamp? Nah, I told myself he wasn’t as good as Eric Cantona. I wasn’t really that kind of person.

"It wasn’t really me. But you had to get that in your head, that intense dislike. It was pure motivation.

"But deep down we knew. They were top drawer and that rivalry was everything to us. Deeper even than Liverpool at that time."