Former Manchester United midfielder Anderson has said that he and his teammates were always fired up to “kill” Arsenal.

Anderson, who played for United between 2007 and 2015, was on the winning side numerous times whenever he played Arsenal.

The most infamous of those wins was the 8-2 at Old Trafford at the start of the 2011/12 season.

The Brazilian recalled how he, along with South Korean Park Ji-Sung, used to relish playing against us.

I wanted to humiliate them

“He (Ferguson) always started me against Arsenal. I always played well against them,” he told ESPN.

“Park Ji-sung, too. Ji always exploded against them. Ronny (Cristiano Ronaldo) was the same. Three passes and we were in on goal. And we scored.

“Against them we would think: ‘let’s kill Arsenal’. We beat them 8-2 at home. I don’t think anyone on our team went missing that day. After the sixth goal, I wanted to humiliate them. The coach had to take me off.”

Anderson arrived at United with a big reputation after impressing at Porto.

He struggled for consistency in England, but did have a habit of turning up against us.

In fact, there was a time when United would always beat us no matter what side they put out on the day.

During Anderson’s time in Manchester, Arsenal won just three times against United and he personally played and won against no side in the country more than the Gunners (P13 W7 D3 L3).

We lost nine times to United in that period, usually by just a single goal, barring that disaster in 2011. Anderson featured in seven of those wins.

After several trophies, Anderson was allowed to return to Brazil in 2015.

The 29-year-old has played for Internacional and Coritiba since, but is now a free agent.