Patrick Vieira stamped on me and I squared up to Thierry Henry - it was hell for leather

David Bentley has opened up on his shocking bust-ups with Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira during Arsenal training sessions.

Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal side in the early 2000s were regularly battling it out with Manchester United to be crowned England's top team. The Gunners' formidable attack at the time boasted names like Henry, Robert Pires, Freddie Ljungberg and Dennis Bergkamp, who helped them secure the Premier League title in 2001/02 and 2003/04, as well as three FA Cups from 2002 to 2005.

Their success was not just down to their skill but also their tenacity, aggression and mental strength, which often led to altercations on the pitch. That was evident as Arsenal accumulated 33 red cards from 2000 to 2005.

However, it wasn't just during matchdays where emotions spilled over. According to various former Arsenal players, training sessions at London Colney were equally, if not more, fiery. Bentley, who rose through the academy ranks to the first team, experienced the good and the bad within one of the greatest squads in English football history.

Speaking on Undr The Cosh, the former winger recalled the carnage he witnessed as a teenager during training, including some of his own clashes with talisman Henry and club captain Vieira. Bentley began by saying: “Every day [there] was a fight.

"You talk about personalities. No chance. You’ve got Ray Parlour - loves it, lunatic, beautiful man. Then you’ve got Martin Keown, Dennis Bergkamp’s an animal - he’d kick the c**p out of everyone.

“Giovanni van Bronckhorst - I used to come up against him and I’d come away with black eyes and bloodied eyes, he used to elbow the life out of me. Fights. Pascal Cygan against Kolo Toure was the best fight I’ve ever seen on the training ground. Two animals going at each other. To try to break them up, we needed the whole team. Vieira stamping on me.”

Bentley described the stunning moment he offered to fight star player Henry, considered at the time to be one of the best players in the world, before stating his Arsenal team-mates were more invested in winning small-sided training ground matches than weekend games - such was the quality within the squad.

Bentley, who later joined north London rivals Spurs, said: “I squared up to Thierry Henry, ripped off my gloves, ‘Come on, let’s have it.’ What they did - Wenger, [assistant manager] Pat Rice and the coaching staff - was put on seven-a-sides every day.

“The dressing room was more concerned about winning the seven-aside tournaments than the game on Saturday. It was hell for leather, and it was just slide tackles and fighting. Especially in the last game, that’s where I squared up to Thierry, bless him. I would have got a good hiding as well!”

He went on to add: “I gave it a bit of banter with Martin Keown too, I scored a header against him and said, ‘Martin, you’re getting a bit old now, aren’t you son?’ Worst thing I could have done. The ball then came in and I was shielding it, he grabbed me by the neck and threw me from behind. My shirt ripped and I’m going, ‘Gaffer! Pat!' and they’d say, ‘Get on with it!’ It was a hardcore dressing room.”

Bentley also revealed details of an incident during a pre-season training camp in Austria, where he sat in Patrick Vieira's seat at breakfast and stubbornly refused to budge when the Arsenal captain told him to move.

His brave move earned him the Frenchman's respect, though he confessed it meant being excluded from team nights out and enduring Vieira's wrath in every training session for several months afterwards.

Bentley joined Norwich City on loan for the 2004/05 campaign and, desperate for first-team opportunities, moved to Blackburn Rovers in August 2005, with the transfer becoming permanent the following January..

Despite the frequent clashes, Bentley maintains that such a competitive edge was the "key ingredient" behind Arsenal going unbeaten during the 2003/04 season - a record that is still unmatched today.

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.