There has been plenty of former Arsenal players, true legends of North London, who have been spotted coaching and managing players amongst the Arsenal set up in recent years. The likes of Henry, Ljungberg and Adams have all been officially enrolled in positions at the club, whilst we’ve also seen the likes of Pires come back on the odd day to be amongst the side. But one player who says he is disappointed to have never been around the Arsenal setup since he left, is Gunners legend Patrick Vieira.
Vieira has been speaking to the media about his disappointment surrounding the fact he never got the chance to return to Arsenal in a professional capacity, after his footballing career was over. We have seen in recent months how the Thierry Henry saga has caused quite a stir regarding former players being employed by Arsenal as coaches and then being under Arsene Wenger’s helm, but it seems as if Vieira is disappointed to have never gotten the chance.
The New York City boss Vieira told L’Equipe: ‘I was a bit disappointed not to get a call at the end of my career. Arsene has the right to think you don’t deserve it, that you’re not ready. But I think there’s always a way to open doors. As a player I wanted to go as high as possible. Same now. My dream is to manage one of Europe’s biggest teams one day.’
Unless memory serves me wrong, I thought that Vieira was linked with an opportunity to join up with Arsenal upon retiring from the game. Albeit it may not have been in a coaching position but I thought the Frenchman was offered the chance to return to Arsenal, only for him to choose Manchester City as the first step in his post professional footballing career. Vieira who was at Manchester City at the time, announced his retirement from football in 2011. It wasn’t long after his announcement that he was then appointed a role within the City youth development ranks and he later went on to become the City reserves manager. Paddy held this position until 2015, where he was then officially unveiled as the new boss of MLS franchise New York City FC, who are also a partner to Manchester City.
So as I said, unless memory serves me wrong, I thought he did have a chance to return to Arsenal, but his quick decision to link up with the youth development at Manchester City has meant that Vieira’s coaching career has perhaps gone down a path that hasn’t taken him to his ideal dream destination.
By AH