Arsenal: Patrick Vieira endorsement a hint at the future

Arsenal’s recent history has been berated by club legends, so Patrick Vieira offering his support means a lot. But it means more than it seems.

Arsenal has a rich array of legends and club heroes that have found their way to various news outlets and platforms. From their respective places, they have been very outspoken in their opinions about the current state of the club.

Unfortunately, most of that outspokenness has been negative. Tony Adams and Thierry Henry, arguably the two biggest club legends, have been leading the parade in terms of being harsh.

Not that that’s a bad thing. They have every right to say what they say and sometimes you have to be the one to say the tough things. But there has been very little support for what the Gunners have been doing, especially in their commitment to Arsene Wenger with his new two year deal.

As such, club legend and current NYCFC manager Patrick Vieira voicing his support is an incredibly welcome addition to the countless voices out there. Here’s what he had to say:

"He shouldn’t [leave Arsenal] because I don’t think at the moment Arsenal can find a better manager than Arsene, honestly. He has been at the club for so long and I think that is something that you have to prepare. Because when you look at other clubs around, when you look at managers who stayed at the club for years and years… it is not easy at all. And I think that it is something that you have to prepare because when you have stayed for 20 years in a club it is not like two years. To replace Arsene will be tough, it will be really difficult, and I think that is something that you have to plan."

This is made even better because Vieira falls into that crowd of former players that would love to be coaching at Arsenal, but were never offered a chance. Some call it inexplicable, some say Wenger doesn’t like having anyone there to question his authority.

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That latter string of thought, that Wenger does not want voices at the club that go against his, is what made me do some extra thinking about what Vieira has said.

Perhaps the former French midfielder is reeling off these lines in hopes that he is the next manager of the club he loves. Naturally, he was asked if that was his endgame, and his response plays into that idea: “Not for the next two years, no.”

Meaning that when those two years are up, Vieira would absolutely consider coming back to Arsenal. Couple that with the fact that he has completely turned around MLS side NYCFC and in two years, figures to have bolstered his coaching resume with several successful seasons to add to the one and a half he has now completed.

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With the style that Vieira has adopted and the fine line he has walked with his voiced opinions, it feels like it is all just a matter of time before he takes the reigns of the Gunners.

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