Robert
Pires Biography – Introduction - In the past decade, I followed Pires'
career throughout most of his clubs & what impressed me the
most is
his ability to play well and create wonderful goals and assists from
any position his coach would set him in. I saw him play as a left
winger, right winger, left midfielder, central attacking midfielder,
support striker, "volante" and playmaker & I don't know about
you,
but I'd say that's one adaptable player.
I'm sure he could do quite
well in defense as well, although his attacking skills make him perfect
for the offensive half. Given his qualities and the fact that he made
an impact wherever he played (as well as being World and European
Champion with France), I decided to write up this Robert Pires
biography and cover his career so far.
Full
name
Robert
Emmanuel Pires
Date
of birth
October
29, 1973
Place
of birth
Reims,
France
Height
6.1FT
- 1.85M
Playing
position
Attacking
midfielder, Winger
Robert Pires
Biography – FC Metz and Marseille Born in Reims, Pires first started
playing for
the local youth team in 1988, when he was 15 years old. After 4 years
here, he was spotted by FC Metz and invited to play for the Metz Youth
academy for one year, before being taken to the senior squad. His
senior debut came just 1 year after he joined Metz' youth club, against
Olympique Lyon.
Despite not getting a
lot of
matches in his first season as a professional soccer player, Pires
would soon become an important player for Metz' first squad. His
attacking prowess earned him a goal tally of 43 goals in the 162 league
appearances for Metz and in 1996, his debut in the France
national team.
With France's impressive
performance at the 1998 World Cup, where Pires had a major contribution
in winning the trophy, he was bought by Olympique Marseille where Pires
would spend 2 years with mixed performances. In his first season,
Marseille was in the run to win the league during the entire season,
but unfortunately for the soccer player, Pires and his team was just 1
point short to win it at the end.
His second season with
the
Marseille club saw the Frenchman suffer several annoying injuries that
kept him off the pitch for over a quarter of his club's games, but by
winning the European Championship with France in the summer of 2000, he
became a priority for many big European clubs, including Real Madrid,
Juventus Torino and Arsenal London. It was the latter who won the bid.
Season
Club
Games
Goals
1992–1998
FC
Metz
162
43
1998–2000
Marseille
66
8
2000–2006
Arsenal
189
62
2006–Present
Villarreal
16
3
Last
Update - Sep 30, 2007
Domestic League Only
Robert
Pires Biography – Arsenal Leaving France, Robert Pires
would have to
fill some big shoes at Arsenal, since he was brought on to replace Marc
Overmars, who had just left the London club for FC Barcelona. He was
also a World and European champion with France, so that made fans
expect even more from him, although the physicality of English
soccer was tough on the Frenchman.
With his
first season being an
unimpressive one, mostly due to the fact that he needed some time to
adapt to the new playing style, Pires eventually gained his good form
back in the 2001-2002 season, helping Arsenal win the Premier League.
In his next
4 seasons for the
Gunners, Pires would become an indispensable first team member,
helping them win the league again in 2003/2004, the FA Cup thrice in
2002, 2003 and 2005 and reaching the UEFA Champions League final in
2006, a final that Arsenal eventually lost to FC Barcelona.
Years
National
Team
Games
Goals
1996–2004
France
79
14
Unfortunately,
that would be
the last game Robert Pires would play for Arsenal and he was
substituted early on with goalkeeper Almunia, after Jens
Lehman was sent off in the beginning of that match. Following
that disappointment and a silken squabble with Arsenal manager Arsene
Wenger, Robert Pires decided to leave the team for Spanish club
Villareal.
Now 33 years
of age, Pires is
looking for his lost glory with Villareal, although he didn't play much
because of injuries in his first season with the Spanish club. He also
lost his place in France's national team, although he stated that he
still holds hope of being selected again in the near future.
