Former Arsenal defender Kolo Toure has spoken about the infamous moment when he connected with a nasty slide tackle on Arsene Wenger.
Toure, who spent seven years with the club, first joined the Gunners back in 2002. The youngster would go on to form a formidable partnership with Sol Campbell during his stay in North London, but at the beginning of his tenure, he clearly had a point to prove.
Kolo Toure – utterly fearless
Ray Parlour previously told the story of the challenges Toure put in during a trial game. From Henry to Bergkamp and beyond, nobody was safe.
He also mentioned that Kolo had put in a hard tackle on none other than Arsene Wenger. Now, we have confirmation from Toure himself thanks to his interview with FourFourTwo.
“Kolo takes Bergkamp out! We’re like ‘Woah, don’t kick him!”
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) March 19, 2020
? “Thierry goes on to Kolo, next minute: BANG! We’re going ‘No Kolo!’”
? “Then the ball lands at Wenger’s feet. BOSH! Kolo takes him out!”@RealRomfordPele on Kolo Toure’s #Arsenal trial is brilliant ? pic.twitter.com/bXqHl5ltR4
“I spent two weeks there and, as you know, I put that tackle in on Arsene Wenger,” he said. “But, you know, I think that slide tackle changed my career.
“It showed the manager just how much I wanted to be successful, and how much I wanted to become a professional footballer. That’s how he took it. All the players were laughing and I was in shock.
“I thought they were going to get rid of me there and then but Arsene is an intelligent guy.
“He only saw a young African boy who was keen to impress him, and gave me that opportunity to express myself and show what I was capable of doing.”
There are plenty of ways to make a statement and slide tackling the manager is certainly one of them.
That performance alone may not have been enough to convince the club that he could be a bonafide star, but his outings on the pitch certainly justified Wenger’s trust in him.
Almost 20 years later, we’d argue things turned out pretty well for the defender.
Featured image credit: Getty