When the Arsenal title winning teams of the 90’s and 00’s most people will say that Thierry Henry or Robert Pires were the main men in the team but one of the most influential players was midfield enforcer Patrick Vieira, who was the commander in the heart of the Arsenal’s midfield from the time he arrived in 1996 to 2005.
Patrick Vieira would forever re-shape Arsenal Football Club as the Gunners would go onto win two domestic doubles while also go onto win the league undefeated.
When Vieira signed for Arsenal in 1996 he came as a really unknown quantity alongside manager Arsene Wenger, so not a lot was expected of the midfielder as it normally takes foreign players a while to settle into life in the Premier League. This was not the case with Vieira, who settled into life in the Premier League and established himself as one on the Premier League’s powerhouse midfielders.
Under the guidance of Arsene Wenger, Vieira became a remarkable player who was excelled at both winning the ball and distributing the ball throughout the pitch. The reason that the Frenchman stood out so much was his hard working style. Patrick Vieira quickly established his authority on the Premier League in the middle of the pitch alongside Emmanuel Petit and, in his first season at the club, Arsenal won a domestic double and this established Vieira as an important cog in the Arsenal machine. In the early days of his career it was stated that the Frenchman showed ill-discipline
Goals were not frequently in the Frenchman’s repertoire but whenever he did score they were always key goals for Arsenal and most vitally set Arsenal on their way in the title deciding game against North London rivals, Tottenham. During the 2003/2004 season Arsenal made history after winning the league unbeaten with the likes of Henry singled out for praise but Vieira’s heroics in midfield won him many plaudits among the Gunners faithful. Patrick Vieira holding up the ball in midfield with his strength, while finding some way to flick the ball around the players surrounding him, became a familiar sight.
Vieira handed the Arsenal captaincy
Throughout his Arsenal career Vieira’s influence just kept on growing to the point when, in 2002, after Tony Adams decided to call it a day, the club felt that the leadership that the Frenchman showed earned him the captains’ armband. Many Arsenal fans feel that making the influential midfielder the club captain eradicated the ill-discipline that blighted his early Arsenal career but this is not to say that Vieira lost any of the tenacity that made him a midfield general. The one rivalry that brought out both the best and worst in Patrick Vieira was with the Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane. This was a nine year battle in which neither man would back down from the other. It is needless to say that throughout this bitter old feud neither man ever lost their bite and steeliness.
Ian Wright once said this of Patrick Vieira “It's been a while since we've had a midfield player who looks at the front man's run first and then looks at other options. He makes dream passes forward and he's already put me in several times” which is a huge complement to one of the most talented players to have donned an Arsenal jersey. It is also paying homage to the passing ability while it also shows the vision that Vieira developed while in the ranks of the Arsenal squad.
Vieira always showed a willingness to adapt as many of the foreign players over the years that have signed for Arsenal such as Emmanuel Adebayor, Thierry Henry and Oliver Giroud all required time to settle into the Arsenal team. Patrick Vieira, on the other hand, took to the Premier League like a duck to water and the rest as they say is history. In closing Patrick Vieira was the complete package as he was physically tough while also have many technical skills.