Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has lifted the lid on their fierce rivalry with Arsenal, claiming he "didn't like" the club and a number of their star players.
Towards the end of the turn of the Millennium, it was Arsenal and Man Utd who had a two-way monopoly when it came to success at the top of the English game.
Sir Alex Ferguson's side won four Premier League titles between 1998 and 2003, while Arsenal triumphed on two occasions under Arsene Wenger in 1997-98 and 2001-02.
It was the Welshman who was instrumental in United's treble-winning season in 1998-99, famously scoring a sensational solo goal in the FA Cup semi-final against the Gunners as they went on to lift the trophy.
And the 45-year-old, now in charge of the Wales national team, said he wasn't a fan of the north London side or a number of their star names.
"I didn’t like Arsenal," Giggs told the Daily Mail. "I didn’t like [Patrick] Vieira because he was dirty and got away with murder. I didn’t like [Emmanuel] Petit because he had long hair. I didn’t like Bergkamp.
"I didn’t like [Robert] 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.
Asked to elaborate on his reasons for disliking Dennis Bergkamp, Giggs believed the Dutchman "wasn’t as good as Eric Cantona."
Despite his contempt for some of Arsenal's renowned stars, Giggs admits he knew Arsenal were a force to be reckoned with and drummed up a distaste for his rivals to gain the upper hand psychologically.
"I wasn’t really that kind of person. It wasn’t really me," he added.
"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."
