Fabio Viera was criticised for his performance against Sporting Lisbon last Thursday, with his performance earning him a 3 out of 10 by Just Arsenal‘s Pete Doherty.
The 3/10 rating was accompanied by the claim, “Is there a player in there? He hasn’t shown anything to date to warrant his price tag or a place in the first-team squad. Looked like somebody who had wandered off the terraces, as he had not a single input into the game of note. Has a lot of work to do to convince observers that he has a future at Arsenal.”
Well, some Gooners may have given up at this point on Vieira ever thriving at Arsenal, but don’t you think it is too early to judge him on a one-game basis? Arteta, after the first Sporting Lisbon game, hinted that Vieira must be a hit at training, hinting that he deserves to play more, when he said (via the Daily Mirror), “I’m really happy with him. I think he deserves more minutes than he’s had, especially in the last two months.
“Obviously, he had a difficult start because he was injured for two months after a surgery and wasn’t at the level that we wanted.
“But you saw tonight that he was probably our most dangerous player. He was always making things happen. He’s a player that I absolutely love.”
Anyway, other than Arteta, PL pundit Pete O’Rourke, who is of the belief the former FC Porto man will come big for Arsenal, as he told Give me Sport: “I think Arsenal are going to have to have players step up and do something in case it’s not working in games. We’ve seen it already with Reiss Nelson coming off the bench to massive impact, and I’m sure Fábio Vieira might have that opportunity as well at some point.
“He’s mainly been restricted to games in the Europa League, but I think if he gets his chance in the Premier League, I’m sure he will take it. He hasn’t let Arsenal down whenever he has played.
“He’s obviously found it hard to break into an Arsenal starting XI that’s been so consistent this season and had no injury problems, but I think if they do, or were to lose a few players to injury in this run-in, Vieira is ready to step up and stake a claim and do his part for them.”
Ultimately, Vieira will have to take his chances when they pop up. If he could reach the heights of being called the “assists king” in Portugal, then he surely has some brilliance in him somewhere?
Daniel O
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FABIO VIEIRA – “When you are skinny you are intelligent! I am intelligent!”
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