Ex-Premier League Striker: Playing Against Arsenal Made Me Feel ‘Out Of Place’

By The Editor
on 12th July 2024

Adam Le Fondre remembers Arsenal drubbing…

Former Premier League striker Adam Le Fondre noted a game against Arsenal in 2012 which had him questioning his credentials as a top-level player, he told the I Had Trials Once podcast.

Le Fondre played for Reading in the Premier League and reflected on being on the wrong end of a thrashing at the Madejski Stadium in 2012.

The game will be remembered for Santi Cazorla’s stunning display, with the Spaniard bagging his only Gunners hat-trick in what was a sensational debut campaign in England.

Arsene Wenger’s men went on to win 5-2 and Le Fondre name-checked Mikel Arteta as a standout performer who ‘ran the show’ at the base of the midfield.

Asked if he’d ever experience again where he felt inferior, Le Fondre said: “To be fair I was on the bench for this game; we played Arsenal.

“It was Monday Night Football and we played 4-4-2 against them and Arteta ran the gaff. I think Cazorla scored a hat-trick and he was a shambles – but Arteta was just taking the p***.

“On MNF, they dissected the stuff and showed how much time Arteta had on the ball.”

Wenger fielded a midfield trio of Arteta, Cazorla and Jack Wilshere for that trip to Reading and when that team clicked, they played a brand of football not seen since in the Premier League.

Having said that, you can also see why we never competed for the title in that period given Wenger’s reluctance to invest in powerful midfielders to provide us with balance.

It’s why we often came up short in the big games and the latter stages of the Champions League against teams that could match our technical level.