Mikel Arteta says he’s sure that Arsenal fans will enjoy seeing Fabio Vieira as he starts to make headway after his summer move from Porto.
The 22 signed for £35m in a whirlwind deal, but his start was delayed by an ankle injury.
However, he made his debut on Sunday in the 3-1 defeat to Man Utd, and showed some nice touches in the final stages of game.
Ahead of the Europa League group stage game against FC Zurich on Thursday evening in which the Portuguese midfielder is set to start, the Arsenal boss explained why Vieira was a player the club targetted.
“We were looking for players that could play in three positions in the front-line, and in the attacking midfielder positions,” he said.
“We were looking for very specific qualities in the market and when I saw him, I really liked what I saw.
“Straight away, I was convinced that he was a player who can help us go to the next level and that he had the right personality and character to play for our club.
“It’s a shame that we detected an injury when we were doing the medical. He had no pre-season and everything has been delayed, but hopefully you’re going to see a lot more of him in the next few weeks, and I’m sure that you’ll enjoy it.”
Speaking about tomorrow’s opposition, Arteta was taking nothing for granted.
“The biggest danger is that, after the season they had last year, they haven’t got the results that they expected,” he said.
“You can see how willing they are to win football matches. This is a different competition, a different context and I expect a team that is going to be very ready tomorrow.”
I saw enough in his cameo against United – especially that pass for Martinelli – to feel excited about him.
My worry right now is our general depth; Arteta said he needed 22 outfield players; I am not sure we have that. Injuries have started creeping in – as usual though – and we don’t look as formidable as it appeared during the pre-season. I hope we find some quality in the winter window; not sure we have enough to achieve our goals for the season.
We have 20 in my account (excl. El-Neny), and that’s counting Nelson and Marquinhos.
It will be interesting to see how he does over a full 90 minutes. Pre-season is often a bit of a smokescreen, isn’t it. I remember that we cruised through many a pre-season schedule under Wenger only to fall apart when the real battles began. I fear you could be right in that the relative lack of depth in the squad, albeit augmented by a few of the juniors as Arteta has intimated, means we could have increasing problems as we move through to a very busy October. Nothing can be done until January, if then and it’s never guaranteed,… Read more »
I think we missed the mark on our summer transfers in the end, we are probably two signings short. This will add pressure to do business in winter, but it might be easier this year because of the World Cup.
I saw it mentioned we have 20 outfielders in our squad, but sadly there are some players so injury prone they can’t be counted on completely, so where does that leave us numbers-wise? We are still probably looking for 4 outfield signings to complete the squad, which is a lot, too much for the next window.
Rome wasn’t built in a day
Seems like a quality player from what I saw on Sunday.
“three positions in the front-line”. Who is he gonna beat to the starting 11? I really liked what I saw when he came on, but certainly hoped he could play as a nr. 8 if needed.
“and in the attacking midfielder positions,” he said”
Yup. But hard to beat Ødegaard to that place.
The front line cannot play in every single game
I’m confident we will enjoy Viera. But that’s one lousy way to introduce him – when we’re chasing a game so desperately, Arteta!
Vieira
Jack Wiltshire and Santi Carzola would be proud of your spelling
I thought it was a bit strange playing him at Old Shiteford.
Will also need to change the username to Vieiraera
I suppose, though probably he purposefully removed the “i” in order to serve the visual pun on “era.”
Either way, I’m pleased this little thread has occurred. It’s given me pause. What is the meaning of life?
The circle of life. Have children. Take your parent’s place. Take your grandparent’s place.
And watch football.
Spurs fan