Arsenal: There is nothing ‘too soon’ about Patrick Vieira

Arsenal fans are waiting to hear just what the future holds in terms of a manager, and it is, naturally, dividing opinions. But counting Patrick Vieira as ‘not ready” is as unjust as it comes.

Arsenal fans expect the world. They want only what is absolutely assuredly the best and they rarely have patience to wait for anything else. On one hand, you can’t blame them, given how long they’ve waited to return to their former glory days. But on the other hand, patience isn’t such a bad thing.

There are two distinct school of thoughts, as such, with the next choice of manager. Some want somebody proven through and through, a winner without a question or doubt.

And some want a more experiment pick – someone who can grow into the role, but not so experimental that he doesn’t have some kind of experience.

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The spectrum right now is focused on three individuals. The first is Mikel Arteta, at the far end of that ‘experimental’ spectrum, as he has only spent two years as Pep Guardiola’s assistant. And that’s it.

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At the opposite end, on the experience spectrum, is Max Allegri, who is coming off winning the Scudetto with Juventus yet again. There aren’t many people with a bad thing to say about Allegri. The big concern with him is if he even wants to come to Arsenal.

In the middle is Patrick Vieira.

While many have endorsed the former Arsenal midfielder, and believe he has the chops to lead a top-tier team like the Gunners, there are some who say he “isn’t ready,” which is where I have to draw the line.

Vieira has spent three years re-energizing and redirecting a club in New York City FC that had no direction, no purpose, no growth factor. There wasn’t a lot working for them, and Vieira changed that, investing in youth, building a powerful club that is now always around the top of the Eastern Conference.

People who want to say that MLS is nowhere near the quality of the Premier League have every right too, but football is football. There is quality in MLS, there are eleven guys on the pitch, there are goals to be scored and prevented and Vieira has been doing some fantastic things with a football team, growing them from the ground up.

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So why couldn’t he do that at Arsenal? Because America is a different planet? Get real. Vieira is ready. To think otherwise is to sell him woefully short of what he is capable of.