Vieira: You cannot compare Arsenal midfield now with great side I was in
Patrick Vieira has said it is difficult to judge the players who have tried to replace him in the Arsenal midfield, insisting they have not been surrounded by the same quality of team-mates.
Arsenal’s inability to find a suitable replacement for Vieira has been a problem for the past 16 years, with Thomas Partey the latest to attempt to fill the void. Ahead of returning to north London with Crystal Palace tonight, Vieira said his job as a midfielder was made easier because of the calibre of player in Arsene Wenger’s team at that time.
Asked how it felt to hear that Arsenal fans still did not believe the club had adequately replaced him, the Palace manager said: “It’s always nice to hear people talking quite well about you. But I really don’t know what to answer.
“I think it’s really difficult because when I was playing I had Emmanuel Petit playing next to me, I had Gilberto [Silva] playing next to me. I played with Edu as well in the midfield. That was a really good
partnership. In front of me I had Dennis [Bergkamp] and Thierry [Henry], at the back I had Sol [Campbell], Martin [Keown], Tony [Adams]. I was surrounded by top players and that made my job even easier. But those players that came did not have the players around them to allow them to express themselves. It’s really difficult to be critical of players when you may not have the same kind of help around.”
Arsenal have lost just one of their past eight meetings with Palace, but have failed to win in each of their past three home encounters with tonight’s visitors.
Mikel Arteta’s side have kept three clean sheets in their past four league matches after arresting their slide at the start of the campaign. They are 13th in the Premier League, one place above Palace, and would move into the top half of the table with victory at the Emirates.
Arteta expects a challenge that is far removed from the Palace of Roy Hodgson. “I think he [Vieira] is proposing a different style of play, very different to what Roy used to do,” Arteta said. “They want to be much more dominant, they play in a different formation.
“You can see some young players stepping up and really having a contribution and I think he is establishing the team in the way he wants. Like anybody, after that you need the results to back that up.”