VIEIRA ARSENAL HAVE LEADERS AND TALENT , BUT NO WARRIORS
Gunners legend fears Wenger’s men don’t have the heart or will to win of his era
THE accusation is that Arsenal have not had a leader on the pitch since old warhorse Patrick Vieira left.
But the man himself insists that ‘leader’ is the wrong word – Gunners do not have warriors, battle-hardened men who know how to win at all costs.
That was thrown into sharp relief by Arsenal’s surrender at Liverpool on Sunday which has put Arsene Wenger’s future under the spotlight.
Vieira was the lieutenant who led the club to major success – including three titles – in Wenger’s first nine years in charge.
But Arsenal have not won the Premier League since his departure in 2005 and look a rudderless ship drifting towards mid-table mediocrity.
Amazingly, Vieira claims the current Arsenal squad are better footballers than even the Invincibles team he played in but lack the heart and the will to win.
Vieira, now a manager himself at New York City, said: “The current Arsenal team, of course they want to win games. You don’t go on to the field not wanting to win.
“It’s just that the character of the players is different now to what it used to be.
“I’m not one to say that our generation was better than this generation. It doesn’t make sense to compare the two generations because we are in a different period. The quality of the players is completely different. “The team in our generation was more physical but this generation has better football players – there’s no doubt about that. “So the right balance is what Arsenal now need to find. “I really enjoy watching Arsenal play. They play good football but that is not enough to win matches or to win trophies. “In our time we had the strength to somehow manage to win a game 1-0 when not playing well.” Vieira claims
Arsenal, despite evidence to the contrary at Anfield on Sunday, do have enough leaders.
“You’re not going to tell me Ozil is not a leader. You’re not going to tell me Sanchez is not a leader. You’re not going to tell me Petr Cech is not a leader. There are leaders in the team to challenge and they have the experience to win matches,” he said.
“But I think the balance is wrong. We had this physicality to deal with certain situations, to find a way to win when not at our best.
“Now they play some really good football but they don’t win – that means the balance between physicality and technical creativity needs to be looked at.”
The midfield axis of Vieira and Emmanuel Petit won Arsenal the title in 1998 and Vieira’s partnership with Gilberto Silva was the rock of the Invincibles season.
But today’s central-midfield duo of Aaron Ramsey and Granit Xhaka has been heavily criticised, especially in the wake of Sunday’s 4-0 humiliation on Merseyside.
And Wenger’s tactical awareness has been questioned, with fans wanting to know if his defenders receive adequate coaching.
There are other questions too. Why was £52million record buy Alexandre Lacazette left on the bench at Anfield? What players will still be at the club when the window closes? Has Wenger (right) lost his magic touch?
The problems are mounting and Wenger, handed a two-year deal in the summer, looks a broken man.
After winning the FA Cup in May, this was supposed to be a new era. But the club seems to be going backwards.
Vieira insists that he still has respect for Wenger and takes aspects of his management into his career. But he believes his old gaffer needs to inject into his players the same kind of tactical awareness Jose Mourinho (his old boss at Inter Milan) instils. “Arsene always gives freedom to his players,” Vieira said. “To have that freedom is good but if you can give them the freedom and still respect the tactical aspect of the game it will be even better. “The Jose I had at Inter, he was always focused on the details; giving players information that allows them to go on the field respecting the tactical game. “Then you have Arsene who is always positive and always giving confidence to the players no matter what. “I would like my teams to have the discipline that Jose has but also the freedom to express themselves that Arsene encourages.”