Andy Cole and Dwight Yorke admit they relished Manchester United's fierce rivalry with Arsenal – and said they pushed them to new heights.
Sir Alex Ferguson's United and Arsene Wenger's Arsenal developed a bitter rivalry in the late 1990s, which became one of the most compelling battles of the Premier League era.
After United did the Premier League and FA Cup double in 1998, which Cole described as "a f****** nightmare", United responded by winning an unprecedented Treble the following season.
The two sides had some incredible battles that season, including an epic FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park, which United won 2-1.
Reflecting on the rivalry with Arsenal, Cole said: “For me, they were fantastic games to be involved in. We always knew they were going to push us from the start of the season.
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“It was what United needed at that time, we needed a team that was going to push us all the way. Looking back now, they were great games to be involved in.
“When they won the title in 1998, they beat Everton towards the end of the season to win the title and Tony Adams went through and scored a goal.
“The feeling I had was 'this is f****** unbelievable' - not being disrespectful to Tony. But I was already focused on making sure the team won the league the next season.
Ryan Giggs scored Man Utd's winner in one of the most famous FA Cup replays in 1999“I was fortunate to win the Premier League five times, but I think more about the ones I didn’t. I could have won seven or eight. Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] won 13, but he could have won 17. Forget the ones you won, it’s the ones that got away that hurt you more than anything.
“It’s like when we lost to Dortmund in 1997 in the Champions League - to this day it haunts me. Dortmund were a good team, but that’s just football.”
Yorke, who joined United from Aston Villa in the summer of 1998 for £12.6million echoed his former team-mate and said: “I'd rather win the league easily.
Arsenal's 1997-98 Premier League winning squad (Ben Radford /Allsport)“But sometimes you're tested in your career and this was a time when we were tested, in my first year at United. You need those teams to take you up to the level you're capable of. Having Arsenal pushing us all the way, we knew there was no respite. Every game, every point we played for was always important.
“That was my first experience of understanding what that winning mentality was about. I had a little bit of it at Aston Villa, but in terms of the consistency it did not really come out until I got to Manchester United.”
*Cole and Yorke were speaking at the world premiere of 99, a three-part docu-series available from May 17 on Prime Video worldwide.
99 is available exclusively on Prime Video on 17 May, when all three parts will drop globally
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