Patrick Vieira
Coming just behind Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry in my favourite Arsenal players of all time, Patrick had a way of playing the game with his mind as well as with his physique. Our captain from the past had and still does have, the footballing brain that you need to succeed in football.
Now working for Manchester City after retiring, he is the manager of the Elite Development Squad, or to you and I, the Reserves squad. He earned his status as an Arsenal legend in his playing days after winning silverware on several occasions and is now looking to further his footballing knowledge on the coaching side of football.
Born in Dakar, Senegal, Patrick and his family move to Dreux in France when Patrick was just 8-years old, but he quickly grew into life in another country and his love for football constantly grew as he grew as a person.
Patrick Vieira playing for French club Cannes
Patrick’s early footballing career saw him start out at AS Cannes in France, a club that gifted him the opportunity to make his debut for the first team at the age of 17, and just two years later, he captained the side at the age of 19, and it became clear that even from a young age, Patrick was born to be a leader in football. His footballing career at Cannes did not last too long though, as Italian side AC Milan came and swooped the promising youngster and despite only making two first team appearances in his time in Italy and mainly playing in the reserves squad, the Frenchman quickly came to the conclusion that moving to Italy was not the move his career needed at the time after going from captaining French side Cannes to playing in the reserves for Italian club Milan.
Patrick Vieira signs for Arsenal in 1996
Patrick’s big break in football came in 1996 when English side Arsenal signed the Frenchman and upon doing so, manager Arsene Wenger said he knew he wanted to sign Patrick a while before actually signing him.
Arsenal were not the only club that were fighting to sign Patrick, as Dutch club Ajax were also very close, but a move to Ajax broke down because the player and the club failed to agree personal terms, which paved the way for Arsenal to sign the Frenchman for £3.5million. Patrick, upon signing for the club, said the main reason he signed was because of his fellow Frenchman Arsene Wenger and the thought of being one of his players was a huge temptation, saying: “I am delighted to be joining Arsenal at the same time as Mr Wenger becomes their coach. Being able to speak French to him will make life a lot easier for me.”
Patrick Vieira’s debut for Arsenal came against Sheffield in a 4-1 win at Highbury thanks to goals from Ian Wright, who scores a hat-trick and David Platt who scored one goal. Patrick came on as a substitute which gave Arsenal fans the perfect opportunity to see their clubs new signing. Three days later saw Patrick make his full debut against Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium and the Arsenal faithful saw glimpses of what was to come from Patrick, and soon after, on the 8th of December 1996, he scored his first goal for the club against Derby County to level the scoreline and make it 2-2 late on in the match.
Ian Wright praised the Frenchman in November,shortly after Patrick signed for Arsenal, saying: “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.” In Patrick’s first season with Arsenal, he played 38 games in all competitions and missed out on playing time over the Christmas period because of a suspension he picked up, which led to Arsenal losing games in the absence of the Frenchman and Arsenal finished the season third.
Arsenal’s Frenchman was quickly finding his feet in English football and manager Arsene Wenger was largely responsible for that as he helped Patrick settle into English life and the English league, despite Arsene being new to English life himself. Patrick seemed to grow in confidence the more game time he had and with the managers backing, he knew he could force his way to becoming an Arsenal legend and help Arsenal win silverware with his time at the club.
Arsenal winning the FA Cup in 1998
In the 1997-1998 season, Patrick played a key part in helping Arsenal win the double, winning the league and the FA Cup, finishing above fierce rivals Manchester United by just 1 point in the league and 13 points ahead of 3rd place Liverpool, with Chelsea coming 4th with 63 points. On the road to FA Cup glory, Arsenal came up against Port Vale in the 3rd round, drawing 0-0 at Highbury which meant a replay would have to take place at Vale Park and it took a penalty shoot-out for Arsenal to progress to the next round, where they faced Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium, winning 2-1 in the 4th round. The 5th and 6th round of the competition saw Arsenal face Crystal Palace twice after drawing in the first home tie but went on to win 2-1 away, and then, again, drew at home in the first leg to West Ham United 1-1, but again won 4-3 on penalties. The semi-final was an away game against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Arsenal won the game 1-0, sending them through to the final where they faced Newcastle United on the 16th of May 1998, and goals from Overmars and Anelka saw Arsenal win their second trophy of the season after winning the Premier League a few weeks before.
The season started with an away game against Leeds United which finished 1-1 and it was Ian Wright who got the game going after 35 minutes, only for his goal to be cancelled out by Leeds striker Hasselbaink. 13 games after the start of the season, on the 9th of November 1997, Arsenal locked horns with rivals Manchester United at Highbury in front of 38,205 fans. The game started well for the North London side as Anelka opened the scoring after just 7 minutes to leave Man United wondering how they conceded so early, but they could only stop Arsenal from scoring for another 20 minutes and as the clock was showing 27 minutes, up stepped Patrick Vieira to make it Arsenal 2 -0 Manchester United. However, it did not take long for United to claw their way back into the game and Sheringham scored twice within 8 minutes of each goal and the half time whistle went with the two teams level. David Platt was the person to win the game for Arsenal in the second half on the 83rd minute and sent Arsenal fans into raptures as they celebrated a home win over their fierce rivals.
The season came to a close against Aston Villa away from home and Arsenal were left biting their nails as they lost the game 1-0, but they were still crowned champions at the end of the game, finishing with 23 wins, 9 draws and 6 losses, scoring 68 goals and conceding 33 during the season.
Vieira and Petit, two players who went on to be part of the PFA’s Team of the Year
Vieira and Petit’s performances that season did not go unnoticed as both players were named in the PFA Team of the Year at the end of the 1998-1999 season, along with fellow teammate Nicolas Anelka.
Patrick’s disciplinary record seemed to be taking a slight turn for the worse in his Arsenal career and during the 2000-2001 season, on the opening day of the league campaign against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland the game 1-0 thanks to a Niall Quinn scoring in the 53rd minute. Another red card for Patrick was picked up in a game with Liverpool at Highbury in the 72nd minute. Patrick’s 5 match ban saw him miss out on games against Chelsea, Bradford City, Coventry City, Ipswich Town and Manchester United, but Arsenal only managed to win 2 of those games, drawing the other 3 against Chelsea, Bradford and Ipswich.
In the same season, Italian club Juventus offered to buy Patrick from Arsenal and save the Frenchman from his disciplinary record which seemed to be getting worse, but Vieira decided to stay with Arsenal and declared that, despite his red cards in previous seasons, he wouldn’t be able to change the way he plays because that’s just his style of play and that’s how he thought he would succeed in football, whilst also saying that he loved playing in England and for Arsenal and that he was very happy in North London.
Despite the positives in Patrick’s season, he said that Arsenal were having an ‘average’ season, sparking rumours that he was not content with life at Arsenal despite just a few months beforehand, saying he was. Rumours picked up pace as Vieira later claimed that at the rate the season was going for Arsenal, they would not make the top 5 in the league and they could forget getting a place in the Champions League. Manchester United’s attempts to lure the player to Old Trafford failed and Arsene Wenger claimed the Manchester club approached the player without Arsenal’s permission, disrespecting them and the rules, which then led to the clubs vice-chairman having a private meeting with Vieira’s agent, saying that he let the matter get out of hand and the situation needed to be under control sooner rather than later.
A sunny day at Highbury as Patrick Vieira lifts the Premier League trophy
Despite all the rumours surrounding Arsenal and Patrick, Arsenal were adamant that they would retain the services of the Frenchman and the season ended with Manchester United winning the league by 10 clear points with Arsenal finishing 2nd, Liverpool 3rd and Leeds United 4th. (You see Chelsea fans, money is to thank for your success!)
Anyway, back on track..
The 2001-2002 season saw Patrick remain an Arsenal player and it was in the couple of years that followed that Patrick would be thankful at the decision to remain an Arsenal player, as it saw him become one of Arsenal’s greatest ever players by the time he left the club in 2005. Despite his red cards in previous seasons, his disciplinary record was becoming something that Arsenal fans and the media accepted as part of his game as it was just the way he played, being strong minded and passionate about playing the beautiful game, and it soon became clear that he was a huge presence on the pitch with his leadership skills.
Patrick Vieira and Thierry Henry, two Arsenal legends
This season was very successful for Arsenal as they again obtained a domestic double under Arsene Wenger, winning the Premier League and the FA Cup. Arsenal defeated Watford, Liverpool, Gillingham, Newcastle, Middlesbrough and Chelsea in order to win the FA Cup, and the final game against Chelsea finished 2-0 to Arsenal thanks to 2 goals in 10 minutes by Ray Parlour and Freddie Ljungberg at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff in front of 73,963 people. Arsenal’s league campaign saw them loss just 3 times in the season, losses that came against Leeds United in the 2nd game 2-1, Charlton Athletic in the 11th game, losing 4-2, and in the 17th game of the season against Newcastle United at Highbury. Arsenal finished the season with 87 points, 7 ahead of Liverpool in second, 10 ahead of Man United in third and 11 ahead of Newcastle United in fourth spot.
Patrick was key to Arsenal’s success during this period as he played in 27 Premier League games with 2 goals, as well as starting 7 games in the FA Cup and 7 in the Champions League, scoring 1 goal in Europe. It was Patrick’s defensive capabilities that made him stand out in the Arsenal squad and he was on hand time and time again to assist the Arsenal defenders and break down any counter-attacks that the opposition may have sprung upon Arsenal.
During the 2002-2003 season, Arsenal captain Tony Adams announced his retirement from football which left the captains armband free, and this responsibility fell to non other than Patrick Vieira after being made vice-captain a short while after the rumours of him wanting to leave the club had fluttered out. Upon receiving the armband, Patrick said the idea of being Arsenal captain was ‘daunting’ but nevertheless the would still relish the chance to shine even brighter in Arsenal colours and said: “Taking the responsibility on my shoulders is something I relish. It will make me a better, more mature footballer and a mature person as well.”
Arsenal signed Brazilian midfielder Gilberto Silva at the start of the season and in time, this midfield partnership would mould into one of the best midfield’s Arsenal have ever seen. The two were rock solid when they played together and got used to playing alongside each other and that was something that was vital to Arsenal’s success over the years that Gilberto was there.
The season started with the FA Community Shield against Liverpool at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and it was Gilberto Silva who scored the only goal of the game in the 68th minute to give Arsenal yet more silverware to boast about. The Premier League season, however, started off in stylish fashion for Arsenal as they cruised to a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City at Highbury after the away side went down to 10-men in the 73rd minute and it was Thierry Henry and Sylvain Wiltord who were the scorers that game. Arsenal’s first loss of the season came against Everton and Goodison Park and despite Ljungberg scoring in the 8th minute, Arsenal were unable to keep out Radzinski and Rooney, who scored the winner in the 90th minute. Patrick scored a total of 3 goals during the Premier League season and handed out just 1 assist, playing 24 games in the league, 5 in the FA Cup and 12 in the Champions League as well as scoring 1 goal in that competition. Despite Vieira gaining the captaincy, he was sent off in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea and Stamford Bridge, receiving the red card in the 50th minute for a rash tackle on Gianfranco Zola.
On the 14th of September 2002, Patrick made his 200th appearance for Arsenal in a 3-0 away win in the Premier League and Henry, Wiltord and Edu were the scorers to give Patrick a day to remember. Patrick’s never-ending battles on the field with Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane was ongoing in a game at Highbury on the 16th of April, a game that ended 2-2 with Sol Campbell getting sent off for Arsenal because of an elbow on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in the 82nd minute. Patrick was then injured in a game against Valencia in December of 2002 but returned shortly after for a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns, despite Arsenal conceding early on in the game. A decision taken by UEFA to ban Patrick Vieira after the Frenchman claimed that they weren’t doing enough to clamp down on racism in football, after he received racial abuse against Valencia and also against Lazio in 2001. This decision would prove to be a title killer against Arsenal as Patrick missed the run-in at the end of the season, as Manchester United overtook them and finished 1st in the Premier League, 5 points above Arsenal who finished 2nd.
A classy touch – David Seaman shares the FA Cup trophy lifting honours with Patrick Vieira
After losing out on the Premier League title, Arsenal had the chance for their second piece of silverware that season in the FA Cup final against Southampton, a game which Patrick was ruled out of, so the captains armband fell to David Seaman. Arsenal won the match 1-0 with Pires scoring the winning goal with Vieira and Seaman both lifting the trophy at the end of the game, a touching moment for Patrick in his Arsenal career.
Transfer rumours against picked up pace at the start of the 2003-2004 season but Patrick remained an Arsenal player and signed a new contract that would keep him at the club until 2007, much to the delight of the Arsenal fans and the manager, but maybe not the delight of the players who had to play against him in games, as his strong-minded personality would always shrine through in games.
The unbeaten season of 2003-2004 kicked off with a win against Everton at Highbury, a game which saw Sol Campbell sent off and Patrick Vieira booked, but Arsenal still went on to win the game 2-1 in a season that nobody could have predicted. (Apart from Arsene Wenger..)
Just 6 games into the season, Arsenal came up against Manchester United, and yes, you guessed it, it was the showdown between Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane that grabbed the headlines in a 0-0 draw at Old Trafford. Patrick saw red in the 81st minute of the game in front of 67,639 fans in another feisty game that saw 6 yellow cards and just the one red. During that game, after his red card, Patrick did not leave the pitch straight away and as well as receiving a 1 game ban, he was fine £20,000 for “improper conduct in failing to leave the field of play after his red card.” As well as his poor disciplinary record, Patrick picked up a thigh strain in a game against Newcastle United which saw him come in and out of the squad for around 2 months, a period of time that did not see an Arsenal dip in form like they had done in a previous season without him. Scoring was sometimes part of his game and, in a game against London rivals Chelsea, Patrick scored his first goal of the season against Chelsea in a 2-1 win, scoring in the 15th minute, which gave Arsenal a 7-point lead at the very top of the league table.
Arsenal won the Premier League at White Hart Lane..
Winning the league at the home of your North London rivals is the stuff made up in dreams, but that is exactly what Arsenal did at White Hart Lane, as they only needed 1 point in the match with just 4 games remaining. During the game, Patrick Vieira scored in just the 3rd minute of play to give Arsenal the lead, then just 32 minutes later, Robert Pires doubled Arsenal’s lead. Patrick’s third and final goal of the season was in Arsenal’s last game of the season at Highbury, as Dennis Bergkamp provided the assist for the French player to score in the 66th minute.
Arsenal finished the entire league season with 90 points on the board, playing 38, winning 26, drawing 12 and losing 0, scoring 73 goals and only conceding 26 goals in the process of winning the Premier League title.
Yet again, transfers were the talking point when it came to Patrick Vieira, and after the unbeaten season in which Patrick was an integral part of the glory that Arsenal received, the best teams in Europe were after him, including Real Madrid and Juventus. Real Madrid had tabled a bid of £18million for the services of Patrick, and Arsenal were still reluctant to sell their captain, so much so that Arsene gave Patrick an ‘ultimatum’, saying he had to choose which club he wanted to play his football for, Arsenal or Real Madrid. And the rest, well, you know the rest..
The 2003-2004 season saw one of Patrick’s most successful seasons with Arsenal and the Frenchman carried on his good form and positivity into the 2004-2005 season as Arsenal started the season with a 4-1 win at Goodison Park against Everton. However, it wasn’t until the 13th of November that Patrick scored his first goal of the season in a 9 goal North London derby thriller, scoring in the 60th minute which helped Arsenal win the game 5-4 at White Hart Lane. This was without doubt one of the best seasons for Patrick in front of goal and he again scored in games against Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Everton.
Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira, just moments before the infamous ‘tunnel bust up’ between the two players.
After missing out on retaining the Premier League title to Chelsea, Arsenal and Vieira had the chance to add more silverware to their collections in the FA Cup final in 2005, a game that went all the way to penalties, and 10-men Arsenal, after Reyes was sent off, won 5-4, giving the London club another trophy to add to the long list under Arsene Wenger, and it was Patrick Vieira who scored the winning penalty.
Patrick left the club a victorious player after winning 3 Premier League titles and 4 FA Cup trophies in a 9-year spell at the North London club. He also made 406 appearances for Arsenal, 396 of which were first team starts and just 10 were appearances as a substitute. He also scored 33 goals from the heart of the Arsenal midfield.
Patrick Vieira battling with a young Cesc Fabregas
With the constant speculation surrounding Patrick in previous seasons, it was no different at the end of the 2004-2005 season, and on the 15th of August 2005, Juventus had announced the signing of the Arsenal captain for a fee for £13.75million on a five-year contract. Patrick himself has recently spoke of the transfer from Arsenal, saying he did not want to leave Arsenal but he did not know where he stood, and Arsene Wenger, after selling the captain, claimed he looked at the Arsenal squad and saw no future for Patrick with the emergence of future captain Cesc Fabregas, who would play alongside Gilberto Silva.
In Italy, the fans at Juventus were possessing glorious smiles on their faces after the signing of the French international player and knew that a player of his experience and ability would spell out a good few years at the Juventus Stadium.
In a midfield that involved Emerson and Pavel Nedved, Patrick Vieira was one of three veteran midfielder’s at the club and on the 28th of August, Patrick made his debut against Cheivo Verona at home in a 1-0 win. His well noted disciplinary record stuck with him at his new club and in a Champions League game against Club Brugge, he was sent off with just 1 minute of regulation time to play but Juventus went on to win the game 2-1 after a very nervy ending. His first goal for the club came away from home, at the Stadio Friuli, the home of Udinese and it was the only goal of the game in a season that saw Juventus only lose once in the league, 3-1, a defeat at the San Siro to AC Milan on the 29th of October.
Patrick returned to Arsenal in 2006, for a Champions League game at Highbury which Arsenal won 2-0 thanks to Robert Pires winning the ball back from Vieira to start an attack for Arsenal which ended with Fabregas opening the scoring in the first leg of the quarter-finals.
A series of controversial circumstances at the club led to them being deprived of their Serie A titles from the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 season after being involved in match fixing which then led to the club being relegated to Serie B and having 17 points taken off of them.
This of course led to big names leaving the club, one of which was Patrick Vieira, who was linked to a move back to Arsenal as well as Italian club Internazionale. Just a year after signing for Juventus and playing 38 games for the club, Patrick signed a four-year contract with Inter and signed for €9.5million.
Patrick Vieira playing for Inter
Playing for Inter under Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini was not the best experience in Patrick’s footballing career as he only played in 20 games in Serie A, 4 in the Champions League and 3 in the Italian Cup in his first season with the club. Jose Mourinho was not a fan of the French defensive midfielder in his last season at the club and that was well noted with the media in Italy, despite winning the Italian Super Cup and scoring 2 goals in the game, the Serie A title in 2006-2007, 2007-2008 and finally in the 2008-2009 season. His time at Inter was riddled with injuries and he struggled to hold down a first team spot whenever he would come back from an injury because of the depth in midfield that Inter had at the time.
In his final season at Inter, he started just 7 games in the league, coming on 5 times as a substitute and scoring 1 goal with 1 assist in the meantime. His last game for the club came against Chievo, a game where he unusually started the game, but that was only down to injuries that ravage the midfield before the game.
Patrick Vieira signs for Manchester City
After Jose Mourinho confirmed that the game against Chievo would be Patrick’s last game for the club, Manchester City came in for the player and signed him on a six-month contract where he would play under Roberto Mancini and alongside ex-teammates Kolo Toure and Sylvinho who were ex-Arsenal players.
The 2009-2010 season would spell Patrick’s last in his long, rewarding footballing career and, after signing for Manchester City, the manager Mancini claimed Patrick was ‘an excellent midfielder with a winner’s mentality.’ His first game back in the Premier League was against Hull City in a 2-1 loss at the KC stadium after he came on as a substitute. His first start for the club was just three days after his first appearance as a sub, starting in a game against Bolton Wanderers at home, winning 2-0 and assisting Adebayor (shiver) for the second goal of the game. His first goal however, did not come until the 3rd of April against Burnley in a 6-1 Premier League riot, scoring in the 20th minute, the 5th goal scored in the first half of that game.
In the 2010-2011 season, his 50th appearance in the FA Cup came against Leicester City in a third round replay after the first game finished 2-2, but in the second leg, Vieira scored on his landmark occasion in the 37th minute and Man City went on to win the game 4-2 (6-4 over the two legs). He was then awarded the Man of the Match award for an outstanding performance in the FA Cup against Notts County after he scored twice, helping City cruise to a 5-0 home win. The club went on to win the competition which would be Vieira’s last trophy as a professional footballer.
Patrick announced his retirement from football at the end of the season and after a career that saw him win numerous amounts of silverware for his clubs as well as personal awards, Patrick looked back on his career with delight, knowing that he would one day be spoken about in the history books, especially at Arsenal for his achievements at the club, most notably the 49 games unbeaten run.
Memory lane
As you may well know, this is the part where I ask my Twitter followers what their favourite memory of Patrick Vieira was in his footballing career, and they said:
(Clicking on the persons @ and the link to YouTube videos will direct you to Twitter/YouTube in a new tab)
@LadyCaramelldn: “He was a warrior in the middle of the park. His running battles with Keane always explosive. His goal vs Spurs.” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwcpFXOsrY8 & https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a26mScdqrhs (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UykII4fb8dI)
@Arsenal627: “him laughing at Keane in the tunnel only pissing Roy off more.“
@kazzapond: “It has to be his final competitive kick of a ball for Arsenal when he scored the winning penalty v Man U to win the FA Cup in 2005” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO7ulM6DHXE
@11cannons: “When he seemed in trouble on the ball, then he’d sombrero his man and stride forward and start an attack. Did it all the time.” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWuQUXfyiSo
@Crazywalcott2: “From when he struck his head against the tunnel while in a celebratory mood back when Wenger won his first title.To many spats with Roy Keane. But my best memory was when he got us the FA cup sadly before he moved on.” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO7ulM6DHXE
@trigg_Gooner: “Conflict with Roy Keane and United! Loved it!” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwcpFXOsrY8
@NakulMPande: “His goal vs Leicester, last game of 03/04. Summed up the Invincibles team: Perfect Bergkamp pass onto a late run, calm finish.” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbCpQzuX5DE
Let me know what your favourite memory of Patrick Vieira is by tweeting me here @AvalonAFC or leave a comment in the box below!
Patrick Vieira with Arsene Wenger
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