LAMPS & PAT’S BIG GRAPPLE
PATRICK VIEIRA and Frank Lampard spent little time in each other’s company away from the day job when the two of them were together at New York City.
There in the Big Apple, Vieira was taking his first steps in frontline management, while Lampard was taking the final steps in his own glittering playing career.
But the Arsenal legend, who is now in charge of Crystal Palace, had a hunch even then he may one day lock horns in the technical area with the former Chelsea hero.
And, six years on, that comes to pass at Selhurst Park today when Lampard and his Everton side roll up for an FA Cup quarter-final.
Vieira (left) said: “When we were in New York, the way he was talking and seeing him today as a manager, I’m not surprised.
“When I was making a decision about the game plan, of course, having Frank and Andrea Pirlo and David
Villa was a help. I was talking to them about what we were trying to do and they were coming with some ideas that I could use as well and always having feedback.
“Those experiences are massively important when you are a manager and when you are working with those types of players.
“Here I talk a lot with Luka Milivojevic, because he has this international head on him and an understanding of the game as well.
“It’s always good to have some feedback from players.”
Two years separate Vieira, 45, and Lampard, 43, but, success-wise, there is little between them.
Both won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups, while Lampard enjoyed more club success in Europe, where he won the Champions League and Europa League.
Vieira never got to taste those highs with Arsenal, although he more than compensated at international level in winning the World Cup with France in 1998 and the European Championship two years later.
Both were great players and the respect they had in their playing days endures.
Vieira added: “He was somebody who was difficult to play against because of his timing of getting inside the box.
“When there was a cross, he was always in the right place at the right time, so he was somebody who was difficult to mark inside the box because of his football instinct.
“Something he did really well was knowing what were his strengths and his weaknesses.
“You never saw him get on the ball and try to do a step-over because he
knew it wasn’t something he had in his game.
“But his timing of getting into the box and scoring those goals was unbelievable – that was his strength and, as a holding midfielder, it was really difficult to deal with.”
Vieira does not like to talk about his playing days publicly or privately, and has given all his medals and old shirts to members of his family.
And, like Lampard, he is very much focused on today, with both knowing how much of a boost reaching the Cup semi-final will give their teams and supporters.
Lampard has had a baptism of fire at Goodison and plenty of people were surprised he took what looked like a poisoned chalice.
Not, however, Vieira, who said: “No, I wasn’t surprised, not at all. He took the job because it’s really difficult to get a job in the Premier League, there are not so many options.”
Vieira himself did not exactly have clubs falling over themselves to take him, but Palace did and it has proved a very astute signing.
He added: “I did not go to the job to try to prove a point because I believe in myself.
“I know myself really well and who I am as a manager and what I need to improve myself.”
Vieira may not have set out to prove anyone wrong, but plenty of people – Palace fans among them – will not mind admitting he is doing just that.