Laurent Robert has now shared what really impressed him during his time at Newcastle

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Newcastle United winger Laurent Robert has been speaking to French media ahead of this week’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

Laurent Robert joined Newcastle in 2001 from Paris Saint-Germain and was part of the side that got Newcastle back into the Champions League.

The Frenchman was a winger known for his pace and dead ball ability possessing a wand of a left foot that could generate power unlike anything we’ve had at St James’ Park since. One of those players that the phrase “when he hits a ball it stays hit” was invented for.

Lauren Robert was part of the last Newcastle side to play in the CL

Now 20 years later, Newcastle are once again back in the Champions League and are now due to face Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday.

As a player who represented both sides France Bleu caught up with Robert to talk to him about his time at Newcastle.

Robert spoke fondly of his time at Newcastle, specifically the fans, saying: “I assure you that for me the most striking thing was the communion with the supporters in this stadium. The atmosphere is strong. The fans warned us if there was someone coming behind us, if we didn’t get the information before, we quickly let go of the ball. He’s a real 12th man on the pitch, I haven’t experienced this anywhere else.”

Laurent Robert was a hugely popular figure at Newcastle for his unbelievable goals, and he told France Bleu the story behind one of his most famous one.

One of Robert’s most famous Newcastle goals was inspired by Tekken

In a game against Fulham, Robert met a cross by doing a wild flip scoring past Edwin Van Der Sar, I’ve seen it many, many times and I still can’t work out how he did it, but Robert has explained his thinking behind it, saying: “I remind you that I scored this goal against the Grand Van der Sar!!! at the origin of this goal , there is a video game with my children on the day of the match. We play Tekken, a fighting game, and I tell them before leaving that Dad is going to score a goal by doing a flip. 

“So we lead 2 -0, I dribble 2-3 players, I shift a teammate to the right side who puts a cross towards the first post. I was a little too advanced and as a result, I had this reflex to do an outside return with my left foot. And there it was, I had to try, I had to dare. That evening, everything was for me.”

As someone who absolutely adored Robert I’m so glad to hear him speak so fondly of his time at Newcastle.