For the better part of last week, there were calls for Fabio Vieira to start the Manchester United game ahead of Kai Havertz after his fantastic cameo that helped Arsenal pick up a point versus Fulham; the Portuguese had a hand in the two goals Arsenal scored for the 2-2 draw.
Vieira didn’t start versus Manchester United; he was introduced as a second-half substitute for Havertz. Even so, against United, the ex-Porto star dazzled; he once again gave us a glimpse of why, before he left FC Porto, he was dubbed the assist king, assisting in his second match off the bench.
Pressure is now mounting on Arteta to start Vieira, but Arteta hinted that the moment is not yet ripe for the playmaker to start, as he sees him as more of an impact sub, a super-sub, a good option from the bench, even so, he noted that he could start.
Arteta said via Arsenal.com, “Every player has a chance to do that. Today, we decided to start with Kai. We knew that Fabio would have a big impact, especially in the last few minutes or final minutes, if we needed something and something has changed with Fabio. You notice with the crowd when he steps in, he’s different to how he was last year; he’s more mature; he’s more senior in the squad; and his confidence in the squad is high, so I’m really happy to have those options.”
I guess, for now, Arteta is just slowly easing Vieira into the team game after game, then boom! Down the line, he will start utilising from the onset. Let’s trust Arteta; each time he has had the chance, he’s shown us he knows best.
It is nice to see him raving about now having quality options from the bench, but while Havertz is still settling in, perhaps Vieira should be starting against Everton to see how he performs for the whole game?
Daniel O
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