Arsenal legend Lauren details Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira arguments during training

Former Arsenal defender Lauren, who was part of the 'Invincibles' has revealed how training sessions often boiled over.

The Cameroon international joined the Gunners in 2000 and was part of a hugely successful era at Highbury.

Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry were two pillars of a side that won two league titles in three years as well as a hat-trick of FA Cups.

But in training their desire and want to win often saw things get heated.

Arsene Wenger's assistant Pat Rice was an influential figure, but also drew the short straw when it came to refereeing the training games. 

"No one wanted to be the referee," Lauren told the Daily Mail.

"Wenger was clever eh! He got out of there, went off to the corner to just watch. And that hot potato was for Pat Rice. He was the bravest and he argued with everyone.

"There was argument after argument: Freddie with this guy, Martin with the other guy, me with another one, Thierry [Henry], Patrick [Vieira] … it was incredible.

"Bergkamp was a genius but when it came to competitiveness, mentality, he was incredible. And Henry was spectacular. That's why we won things."

Lauren, who snubbed Real Madrid to join the Gunners, has paid tribute to Rice and the work he did however.

"He would grab me and say: 'You have to do this, you have to do that. Don't play the offside if there's no pressure on the player with the ball.'

"He would tell me how to position my body, diagonally on to the ball so I could see the opponent, the centre back and the ball.

"There was so much that Pat Rice did with the defence. We would work on overloads, where we were outnumbered. We'd be four against eight and Pat Rice would be there 'Move! Move!', every day. He was the one on top of us."