Speaking in 2016, Patrick Vieira explained why he left Arsenal for Juventus and the reason he gave means there is no reason he can’t return now as he admits being ‘ready’ for the Arsenal job.
What he said
After nine years at Arsenal, Vieira revealed that he no longer felt as if he had the trust of Arsene Wenger, which is why he decided to leave and return to Italy.
“After nine years at Arsenal, I was 29/30-years-old and 30-years-old in football you start to get old,” said the New York City FC coach.
“You can see that the coach doesn’t trust you like he used to. That’s part of the game. It’s difficult and I accept it because we had a young player called (Cesc) Fabregas who was coming through the academy and he was doing really well.
“So I was smelling that the time for me at Arsenal was over.
“I had to accept it was over and I had to make a difficult decision as well because leaving Arsenal, where you’ve spent nine years, is really difficult and it hurts your pride a little bit. As a player you feel proud but I made the decision because I wanted to play every game and I decided to go back to Italy.”
In 2005, the midfielder signed for Juventus where he spent a year and made 31 league appearances. He then moved to Inter, rivals of his former club AC Milan, before moving on to Manchester City in 2010.
While Vieira sums up his decision to leave north London very neatly for his talk, I have no doubt it was genuinely a difficult decision. The Frenchman made 279 league appearances for the Gunners, scoring 29 goals and leading the squad to three titles, three FA Cups and three Community Shields. He was also a linchpin in the Invincibles’ starting line-up.
Many still see him as Arsene Wenger’s most important signing and it’s hard to argue against that. I think he would make most people’s top three at the very least.
Vieira’s move away from Arsenal had been on the cards for at least a season. Real Madrid had made it very clear in 2004 that they had their hearts set on signing the then-28-year-old. And while he never actually moved to La Liga, I imagine he had one eye on the exit from earlier than he claims… “That’s part of the game.”
Doing well in New York, Vieira has been heavily linked with the Arsenal manager’s job now that Arsene Wenger is finally leaving.
Speaking to Goal this week, the former midfielder said he’s ‘ready’ for the job at Arsenal and you can read about that next…
Ready
Patrick Vieira has said that he’s ‘ready’ despite recently hinting he wasn’t as he continues to be linked with the Arsenal manager’s job.
Speaking to Goal, the Frenchman anticipated their line of questioning as they asked how he had improved as a manager during his time at New York City.
With a ‘wry smile’ on his face, Vieira said, “If the question is if I’m ready.
“Yes, I’m ready.”
This is in stark contrast to what he said recently.
“I’m always flattered to hear my name linked with different football clubs. That is good for your ego, I will say it,” he told New York radio station WNYE just a few days ago.
“Of course, spending nine years at Arsenal made this club really special for me because of the quality of time I had over there, the relationship I had with the fans.
“But of course, that is not enough to think of going there and coaching the team. I just enjoy myself and I’m happy where I am and we will see what will happen in the next couple years.”
Now, however, it seems he thinks it is enough.
Despite all the rumours, Arsenal have not yet got in touch with Patrick.
He continued, “Honestly, and seriously, no [Arsenal have not been in touch].
“Why not? I still have, of course, next year,” he added. “It’s going to be my contract at least until the end of the season. And then after that anything can happen, but I have a contract until the end of the season.”
Vieira’s contract with NYC ends in 2019 but the MLS season ends mid-October before the play-offs start and end with the MLS Cup at the start of December.
Vieira played for Arsenal 371 times, captaining the side during their unbeaten season. In total, he won three league titles and three FA Cups with Arsenal before moving on to Juventus after nine years in London.
Finishing his playing career at Manchester City, the former midfielder then took up a role as youth co-ordinator before becoming u21 manager and then signing for New York City as their manager.
It is the route of a man willing to put in the work to make himself the best manager he can be by learning the ropes from the bottom up, unlike Thierry Henry who seems quite happy to put himself forward for the Arsenal job despite not even being prepared to quit punditry to learn how to coach at Arsenal.
Vieira has managed 82 NYC matches, averaging 1.62 points per game. They lost their most recent game in the most Arsenal of fashions, dominating possession but conceding three goals without reply.
Pep Guardiola, meanwhile, also believes that Vieira is ready to take over at Arsenal.
The City manager said, “Of course, he is ready. He is already a top manager.
“With what has happened there will be a lot of names there, Arsenal will take the best decision for them.
“But I think all the names will get mentioned and all of them are ready.”
With Vieira not really available until mid-October at the earliest, it’s hard not to see the parallels with Arsene Wenger’s appointment.
Arsenal put Stewart Houston and then Pat Rice in charge until the Frenchman arrived at the club to take charge of his first game on 12 October.
With Mikel Arteta also being linked with the job, would it be beyond the realms for Arsenal to bring him in as assistant manager to hold down the fort until Vieira’s arrival later in the season?
“When your name is linked with big teams in Europe it’s good. That just shows that people are following what you’re doing and you’re doing a good job,” Vieira continued.
“I’m really pleased with that. What is important for me is to focus and concentrate about what I’m doing at the moment. My head and my mind and my energy is on how to win the next game.”