Patrick Vieira says he’s flattered that people think he could become Arsenal manager but maintains he’s happy learning his trade in the MLS with New York City FC.
The Frenchman spent nine years at Highbury winning three titles and four FA Cups under Arsene Wenger, who announced yesterday that he’ll be stepping down as the Gunners coach in the summer.
While his connection with the Gunners runs deep, the World Cup winner insists that a shared history isn’t enough of a qualification for such a big role.
“I spent nine years at Arsenal which makes the club really special for me,” he told New York radio station WNYE.
“But that is not enough to coach the team.”
He added: “I am always flattered to hear my name linked with different football clubs. That is good for your ego but at the same time, I am happy here.
“We will see what will happen in the next couple of years.”
Vieira left Arsenal for Juventus in 2005 before spending time at Inter Milan and Manchester City. In addition to winning nine trophies with Arsene Wenger, he secured eight further titles with Fabio Capello, Jose Mourinho and Roberto Mancini at domestic level and helped France to World Cup and European Championship glory.
Having called time on his playing career in 2011 he went on to coach Manchester City’s reserve team before taking his current role in the United States. New York City FC is currently top of the MLS Eastern Conference after seven games.
The day before he announced he was leaving, Arsene Wenger had positive things to say about Vieira’s credentials.
“He’s a guy who has the potential one day, yes,” he told press ahead of the West Ham game.
“He works in the moment in New York and he works for Man City. I’ve followed his managerial career. I think he does very well. But overall, after that, this Premier League is special, you know.
“You have to come in. There are plenty of former players who played here who have potential and the intelligence and the knowledge to do it. So there’s plenty of choice, don’t worry about that.”
Other names that have been mentioned as possible Wenger successors include Carlo Ancelotti, Massimiliano Allegri, Thomas Tuchel, Mikel Arteta, Luis Enrique and Joachim Loew. We’re not mentioning the fella at Celtic because that makes us do a bit of sick in our mouth.
One day maybe with Dennis as his no2 but not yet…..
and Henry, and Ljungberg, and Pires, and Gilberto, and Lauren, and Sol and Kolo, not Cashley and Lehmann is already a coach
He can’t fly.
Who thumbed this down? Muppets. Would you rather took over now?
I didn’t really disagree with the comment, but thumbed it down to wind you up
Me too.
I thumbed you down because you seem to be a tit.
I am too, but that doesn’t excuse you.
Anyone but David Brent. I can’t help worrying that our board might just be stupid enough to do it…
Oh man, Rodgers only looked good at LiverPOOP because he had Suarez, I can’t believe he’s even mentioned.
For me Enrique is the perfect person. He has a nice chip on his shoulder and was great at getting Barca to play different styles when coaching them.
Would anyone want Conte after Chelsea inevitably sack him this year?
Either way, we just need a manager that is better at tactics and is not afraid of playing some defensive football when needed.
Good choice Patrick! We wish you all the best and hope to see you as an Arsenal manager once you have more experience under your belt. LEGEND!!!
My brain said Wenger had to go, but my hearth wanted him to stay till the end of his contract. I really hope the reports that he was sacked are false. He has done so much for us, and we should never forget that, but he had to go one day. I really hope we can win the Europa League, and have him leave with that big smile. Thank you Arsene for all the great memories and wish you the best. LEGEND!!! For the Arsenal players, they really have to start looking in the mirror. They are partly to blame… Read more »
I have a feeling (ok, a hope) that the players are gonna put in seven, and hopefully eight, super performances for The Boss from now until the end of the season, and yet a nagging grievance that, if they do, then what the fuck have they been playing at up to now?
Not just for Wenger, all these potential managers will be watching our remaining games. Any new manager will bring two or three starting eleven so some of our good players will have to go.
After he said that the players were affected by his contract uncertainty last season, he wouldn’t have put himself or the squad in that situation again.
So I’d guess that this present 2 year deal was agreed with Stan on the basis that he’d probably leave after 1 year, so I don’t believe they asked him to leave directly.
However they may have said they weren’t ready to extend his contract by a further 12 months (to 3 years with the 3rd year being for show only), which may have forced his hand a bit.
Love your take about the players.
” We’re not mentioning the fella at Celtic because that makes us do a bit of sick in our mouth.”
How do you think I feel? We share the same Christian name.
Louis Enrique would be my choice from that list but I think it may be a bit “left field” when the decision is made.
By the sounds of it, Enrique was about as popular as a fart in an elevator by the time he left Barcelona. Wouldn’t be a good choice at Arsenal, especially taking over from Wenger who looks after his players’ welfare better than anyone out there.
I just hope the search doesn’t drag on too long that it will impact us in the transfer market. lots of managers to be linked with us and still unsure whom I would prefer. I do like most of the names that have been mentioned as possibilities other than someone like Henry that doesn’t have much experience.
Its a World Cup summer. There isn’t enough time for it to drag on.
Either they have somebody lined up already (Ha, fucking ha) or they’ll promote from within and flush us down to the Championship, or they’ll get Brenda in and flush us down past the Championship.
I am convinced it was only Wenger holding us together in a superhuman “Spiderman saves the ship” way while Gazidis just swam around in circles trying to look sharky when he’s really a limpet.
I don’t get this obsession with Massimiliano Allegri. He may be a great manager in Italy but the guy can’t speak English. He doesn’t speak German/French either. We have no Italian players in the club. What is he going to do at Arsenal?
The least we can do is to get someone in who can speak the language.
Reports last season were that he was learning English at the time.
It might come accross as discrimination based on language but I don’t see how Alegri can add value to the squad unless ofcourse he is bringing an army of Italian internationals or Chiellini with him on a free transfer. ? Chiellini has fantastic communication skills as we know from the post match interview against Spuds. Alegri is learning English but it doesn’t sound so promising. Let’s just say he’s a bit like Alexis Sanchez or Gabriel Paulista when it comes to his English skills. Players can get away with that but I imagine for a manager it is a vital… Read more »
The fact is that he would be the ideal replacement. Plays attacking football and knows how to organise a defence. He is apparently learning English as he has said he wants to manage in the Premier League. I cannot think of anyone better and yes he could bring Chiellini with him as defensive coach.
Defensive coach? Fuck that, the man is still a rock in defence
Yes I really meant he could play for us for a couple of years as then take up a coaching role. At the same time Allegri could bring Szczesny back.
Bring a defence maybe? I would do with Chiellin and Barzagli as part of my back 4.
Ancelloti is available and one of the best if not the best at this job. Freakin go for it
He seems a dignified and civilised man as well. I would be delighted to have him at the club.
Ancelloti was my 1st choice also. A big name manager that can attract top players either him or some monaco manager is supposed to be able to do a job
I’m down for Ancelotti as well lads. I think the coach that managed that brutal Bayern team that gave us such a pummelling could teach us a thing or two.
the only thing I’m not crazy about is his career has basically been to go into a team of top players and man manage them to quickly get results and move on to the next club. I’m not sure that really fits where we are as a club right now – the squad needs a major overhaul and there will have to be a focus on younger talent.
He would get results and I agree he seems a good bloke, but am I alone in thinking I would prefer someone who is “ours”, maybe not for the next 22 years, but ours nonetheless?
Most big clubs want just that, but he has been at clubs with smaller budgets. The squad doesn’t need a major overhaul but it does need a few key players brought in.
No way. His laid back, hands off approach is the opposite of what we need. We need a leader with energy and vision to rebuild us, not a jaded big name to keep us ticking along. In his last 3 jobs – Bayern, Real and PSG he’s just gone in and achieved the minimum expectation with world class squads and little domestic competition (Real excluded, where he didn’t win the league). He added little value to any of those teams. There are comments from Robben etc about how his training sessions were basically just unstructured kickabouts, and how he does… Read more »
Do you know what he’s done at Milan? The man’s a legend there!
10 years ago
What are his past achievements? Carlo Ancelotti was a key midfielder on the mighty Milan team with guys like Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard. Went to two World Cups with Italy. Paid his dues coaching at Reggiana and Parma before coaching Juventus, Milan and the big clubs abroad. We credit Wenger with influencing the careers of Weah, Hoddle, Adams, Bergkamp, Vieira, Henry, and Fabregas. Ancelotti did the same with Baggio, Zidane, Nesta, Rui Costa, Rivaldo, Kaka, and Pirlo. He’s a classically defensive Italian-style coach learnt how to adapt his safety-first formations to accommodate attacking talent. He’s the one who revived… Read more »
Thanks for saving me a post – I also would take a few seasons of Carlo
Your assessment of Robben alone was enough to thumb up this comment.
Truth be told though, he messed up Baggio. But he is a great manager and has an exceptional pedigree nonetheless. I’m backing him also.
Re: Robben.
That’s greedy, selfish, ball-hogging cunt actually. Credit where credit’s due.
If they go for a big name then he’d be my choice as well, but I suspect it’ll be a less experienced/younger name they’ll go for.
Hell no
Henry or Viera could be great, who knows, but it’s too much of a risk.
Just hope they make a good choice.
I hope to heck my namesake stays as irrelevant to all things Arsenal as ever.
I doubt we’ll see Vieira managing us any time soon. Man City have invested a lot of time and money into him and he’s under contract, do you think they’ll let him come to us? Even if they do, it won’t be cheap. That being said any manager currently under contract will cost a hefty sum in compensation, every club knows we need someone and knows we’re cash rich, hence Celtic’s chairman publicly touting Rodgers – with three years left on his deal you’re talking them asking for at least a £15m, which is more than double their record transfer… Read more »
Media punditry can only see in front of their noses – They should stop trying to link ex players like Viera, Henry, Arteta. None of them have put in enough chops or have sufficient experience at the moment. Its very risky. We are not Real Madrid who have vast resources beyond us to throw at a problem. There are plenty of issues remaining that a more experience head needs come in to help sort out. I feel the media are ‘flavour of the month’ and that translates to the people who pay heed to them. One manager that should be… Read more »
We should get an experienced manager when we are still in transition, someone like rafa or ancelloti for a season or two would do. After that then we should get the true successor for wenger, someone young, ambitous, and full of fresh ideas.
I like Rafa but somehow it doesn’t seem likely
I’d go for Allegri if possible, but I think we’ll end up with Enrique
Not sure Allegri is an option. Enrique doesn’t seem like a bad choice.
Wasn’t Enrique’s whole game plan basically ‘we’ve got 3 of the best attackers in the world up front so let’s hope they score more goals than the opposition?’ Tactically, he doesn’t seem up to too much. Once Messi, Neymar & Suarez dropped from mindblowingly brilliant to just brilliant, th game was up for him at Barca….I’m over simplifying definitely but I don’t see Enrique as a good option at all.
I think he switched their style from possession based to more direct / counter attacking, because his attack was amazing and his midfield wasn’t. The purists didn’t like that but it worked.
He did manage to win a treble so he can’t be all that shit.
Not saying he’d be my first choice.
I’m just not sure it working had anything to do with his change of style; more Suarez being added to Messi & Neymar and all three playing astonishingly well…
I’m not saying Enrique is a bad manager. But with the squad Barcelona have, I think it would be harder for someone to really fuck it up than perhaps we imagine. While they’ve brought in new players – even after change in management- there has been a ver consistent core to their team for a long time. It’s that core that gives them their competitive edge. Also, how many teams really compete in span, 2? Maybe 3 at most in any given season. Personally, there’s something poetic about it being Viera. The first signing by the boss becoming his successor.… Read more »
Allegri by far the best option but please not Simeone. His style of football is so boring. He would turn us into a slightly classier version of Stoke City.
Sorry misread your comment. Yes after Allegri I think Enrique would fit the bill
In other words, he would take it if he were offered it, and I hope he will be one day, but not yet.
Sp*rs just blew it again
https://sincespurslastwonatrophy.co.uk – that clock just a keeps on tickin’ 🙂
It’s happened again!
It’s happened again!
8 semis in a row and they still can’t get it up for the cup.
Well I don’t like manure or spuds, but love the fact that it was an x arsenal man that made the difference ?
Whoever takes over is most likely to be a transitional figure. In that respect, Ancelotti could function well. After the defensive shambles the last seasons, it would also be tempting to go for someone who can actually set up a defense, like Diego Simeone or Massimiliano Allegri. Simeone is 47, Allegri 50. If they succeeded, they could stay at the club for many years.
A more exiting, but risiker option would be 43 years old Leonardo Jardim.
Weve gone from a feared team to a ´whatever`team all because he stayed on too long. 5 years ago he shouldve stepped down gracefully. Hes done some amazing things,no manager had his eye for talent iand development in his first decade here and m not his biggest hater , but its little over due. We have world class players and the blame falls on all but most these also performed well with thier old clubs and then turn to shit here. A big clear out of dead wood, from the from the Tea Lady to Steve Bould.
Hey! leave the Tea/Dinner ladies alone. Now they can offer the staff Saveloy & chips, Pie n Mash & the dreaded Mars bars – lol. On a serious note, agree we need a complete shake up, words like Regression, Stagnation, Comfort zone are bandied about the club in recent times. If he’d have gone a few years ago I’m sure the likes of Pep, Klopp etc would have loved to manage us, but now? All the weeping & wailing on this site is a bit OT. A multi millionaire loses a job he should have lost years ago, come on… Read more »
Jardim would be my pick if we could get him (and I think we could, he’s clearly taken that Monaco team as far as it can go). Proved he’s a solid manager, can work with what he’s got (created two totally different but successful teams at Monaco), knows a good buy, good at developing youth talent, used to dealing with a situation where he is competing with other clubs who have more money than he does.
Does seem to fit.
I really want Jardim. He has Monaco playing great football, not a huge budget. And he still made them the best of the rest even after his best players we’re pillaged last season. He knows how to bring on exciting talent. He’s basically an early Wenger. Ancelotti after what the Bayrern players were saying about him doesn’t inspire confidence. They even had to arrange their own training sessions as they were so lax. And he nearly had Bayern throwing away the title until he was sacked. We don’t need a manager with that lax an attitude to training and positioning… Read more »
More than Viera, Dennis or even Thierry in the immediate future, I hope we end up getting Carlo Ancelloti when we make our return to Champions League football next season.
Regardless of what armchair pundits might think of Carlo’s methods, he does have the distinction of having won THREE Champions League!
So me thinks his appointment will be the final step in catapulting us to elite super-club status like Real Madrid, Barca, Juve and Bayern now that Le Prof seems to have completed the groundwork. 😀
I wouldn’t mind the board giving an up and coming young manager a chance. Ancelotti feels like a waste of time. Yes, he’s competent and wouldn’t be a disaster, but he’s just a hired hand at this point. His aloof temperament is not something we need right now. Would much rather bring someone in with some fight in them and spirit. Not that temperament means all that much, but it can sort of clear out the cobwebs if we can find a more fiery type than the reserved Wenger. As much as we all loved him and as usually good… Read more »
No to Vieira. He might have been a good player but he is a supercunt of a captain, always flirting with Real Madrid.
Disgraceful comment AP. Childish & petulant.
If Arsene had found another captain even in the same league as Vieira I’m pretty certain he would still be in charge.
Congratulations Kwame. I see you figured out how to use the thesaurus.
You have gotten confused between a good player and a good captain.
PV4 is a good player no doubt. But when he repeatedly led us on and not deny the Madrid links season after season, he makes a lousy captain.
Vieira is what Arsenal need in the middle and what Arsenal is lacking now. How i wish we get someone like him in the summer.
Have a look at how Wolves have been playing this season. I can’t help but think that Nuno would be a good fit.
Vieira as the main man with Arteta as no2. Make it happen Gaz!