“I love England, one reason
being the magnificent breasts of English girls. Women are ultimately all that matters
in life. Everything that we do is for them. We seek riches, power and glory,
all in order to please them”. Emmanuel
Petit, 1998.
A fair haired Frenchman living in London in the late 90s – Emmanuel
Petit’s first spell in English football sounds loosely like the plot of a
romantic novel, and at times it was.
In his 2008 autobiography, the former Arsenal midfielder recalls
an incident at the hotel in which he was staying, nearby the club’s training
ground. Recounting a moment he shares with a ‘pretty girl’ who frequented the
games room, Petit says in the most gentlemanly fashion available, “we had a
relationship one day in the snooker room”.
A man of class on and off the pitch, Petit was clearly not
shy of making himself at home in the capital, a notion confirmed by his telling
comment in 1998, in which he professed a particular fondness for English women.
With his immaculately kept ponytail hairdo, reaching down to the shoulders on either
side, and giving him an uncanny resemblance to Orlando Bloom’s Legolas from the
Lord of the Rings, Petit must have
had his share of female admirers. But his most captive audience were the hordes
of grown men at Highbury, who fell in love with Petit’s versatile style of play,
and still hold him dear to this day.
The love affair began in July 1997, as Arsenal’s recently appointed
manager Arsene Wenger sought to rebuild an aging, and by now slightly
predictable midfield. Whilst the Gunners had relied on more conventional
attacking midfielders, such as David Platt and Paul Merson, under Bruce Rioch,
Wenger was intent on creating a more dynamic formation. The signing of Netherlands
winger Marc Overmars was central to Wenger’s plans, injecting the sort of pace
rivals Manchester United had been profiting from through Ryan Giggs for the
previous five years.
But in order to exploit the space which this new look Arsenal
side would create, behind English defences who still favoured the high line at
the turn of the century, Wenger required the type of player capable of picking
the ball up in front of his defence, and swiftly launching attacks from deep. Having
managed Petit at Monaco, Wenger knew what he was buying into, and was able to
secure the midfielder for a modest £2.5 million.
Meanwhile, on the white side of North London, another
Frenchman with impressive locks was preparing to flaunt his talents both on,
and one suspects, off the pitch; Tottenham signed David Ginola that same
summer, and for the exact same price. But
whilst it would take Ginola time to settle and fulfil his potential, winning
the PFA Player of the Year award in 1999, Petit was quick to establish himself
in Wenger’s system.
Wenger had Petit sit in a deeper midfield role then he had
been accustomed to previously, so to allow Patrick Viera to break forward and
join Arsenal’s lethal counter-attacks, led at speed by Overmars, and an
emerging Frenchman by the name of Nicolas Anelka. A long ball specialist, this
suited Petit, whose vision for a ball over the top of the defence worked perfectly
in tangent with the dazzling movement in front of him.
When watching some of Arsenal’s finest goals in the early
Wenger years, the build-up invariably begins with Petit, be it a neat, piercing
ball through the middle, or a lofted one for the on running forward. Whilst his
accurate set-pieces, whipped in at pace with a distinctive action not too
dissimilar from that of a rugby kicker, found the heads of Tony Adams and Steve
Bould more often than not.
An excellent first season did not go unnoticed, with Petit
going on to win the Player of the Month accolade in April 1998, a fitting
personal achievement which was soon accompanied by a maiden Premier League
medal and F.A Cup success. Not a regular goal scorer, Petit had a knack for
finding the net when it counted; in 1998 he scored the only goal of the game
against Derby County, a brilliant long range drive, to secure a vital three
points in the race for the Premier League title.
Calmness personified, Petit was never hurried. The conductor
of the orchestra, he controlled the pace of the game, keeping hold of the ball
when necessary, and knowing when best to play his trademark, defence splitting
passes. His quick thinking made Arsenal one of the most formidable
counter-attacking sides in Europe, epitomized by a fabulous league goal against
Watford in 2000, in which a diagonal ball by Petit from well inside his own
half is collected by Thierry Henry, who casually flicks the ball onwards with
the back of his heel before slotting home.
Petit’s attacking and defensive abilities worked well in
unison. One minute he could be charging into a 50/50 with Roy Keane, the next,
he was able to look up and provide an exquisite assist. Petit, and indeed
Viera, set the standard for what has come to be expected of central midfielders
playing for Arsenal under Wenger, and Arsenal fans have subsequently come to
expect more from their midfielders over the years; they have to be ball winners
and playmakers.
Brazilians Gilberto Silva and Edu replaced Petit in the
early 2000s with relative success, whilst more recently Cameroonian Alex Song took
up the role Petit mastered, before jumping the gun and watching his talent go
to waste on the Barcelona bench, much the same as Petit in 2000.
Song’s raking balls, gratefully received by the likes of Robin
Van Persie and Theo Walcott, and combative defensive presence, saw him develop
into an all-rounder, who like Petit played simple but stylish football, the
former of which Arsenal have increasingly forgotten to incorporate into their
game. The likes of Jack Wilshire, adapt in possession, and at their best when
creating from deeper positions, can also trace their midfield DNA back to the
Frenchman.
It is no surprise that Petit’s best years at international
level coincided with his fine form at Arsenal. As the almost forgotten third
scorer in the 1998 World Cup Final, coming after Zinedine Zidane’s two headed
goals put France in control against Brazil, Petit ensured his place in French
footballing folklore.
With a willing water-carrier in Didier Deschamps protecting
the French defence, Petit was played in a slightly more advanced role in order
to add power to the pacey Les Blues
attack, and his presence paid dividends when he found himself slid through late
on in the final by Viera. The enduring image of Petit galloping forward,
ponytail bobbing up and down, to coolly place a shot past Claudio Taffarel’s
grasp, cue euphoric celebrations from the French team, was the crowning glory
of his most successful year as a player.
Settled, and at the peak of his game, Petit would have gone
on to form a lasting partnership with Viera, had Spanish heavyweights Barcelona
not come calling. Joining the Catalan side in the summer of 2000, Petit was deployed
at centre back, where he had played for large parts at Monaco. In repositioning
Petit, Barcelona chose not to utilise the excellent link up play between Petit
and Overmars, also brought from Arsenal that summer, which had worked so effectively
in England.
Petit struggled to make an impression; having found his best
position in an Arsenal side who encouraged, and engaged the more creative side
of his game, Petit perhaps found it difficult to revert to a more outright
defensive role, in a league with a differing style of play. Having failed to
hold down a regular spot in the Barcelona side, Petit ended his short stint in
Spain, returning to England with Chelsea after just one season.
Still only 43-years-old, Petit was forced into an early
retirement in 2004 after a series of knee injuries and subsequent
complications. It is unthinkable now
that a player could represent Arsenal, and later Chelsea, and still be held in
high regard, as the case of Ashley Cole has demonstrated. But Arsenal fans recognise
Petit’s wider importance in helping to bring about a new tactical philosophy at
Arsenal, and that without the dual midfield role he carried out, to both protect
the defence and to create, Arsenal may have struggled to get over the line in
1998.
Rest assured, if the money ever does come hard to find,
Petit can make a quick buck moonlighting as an elfin stunt double in the recent
Hobbit franchise, reawakening the desire of English women in the process.
A link to a clip of Petit's finest Arsenal moments - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jB_6z83rKb8
No comments:
Post a Comment