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When it was announced that Frenchman Patrick Vieira was moving to Turin, one of my colleagues, still incredulous, rhetorically asked: "Which team can sell their captain?". That colleague was not a fan at all... far from it... He is a football lover. We all pondered, which team can sell their captain. No club came to mind.
So, that team is "Arsenal". Many fans of the London club were shocked when it was officially announced that their star, who had spent nine years at the club, moved to a potential rival in the UEFA Champions League tournament. The Frenchman truly shone at the "Highbury" stadium and in the years spent in London, he became English champion three times and lifted the FA Cup four times. However, Patrick Vieira's game last season made the "Gunners" ("Arsenal" nickname) fans think: is Vieira still the indispensable Arsenal member he was a couple of years ago, when the club seemed unbeatable.
But what puzzled most was not just how "Arsenal" will fare without their cornerstone in the starting lineup. Fans were greatly troubled by the question: how will the team atmosphere change in the dressing room when its soul is gone? Patrick Vieira was undoubtedly the soul of the "Arsenal" team. He was the link that united French and English players at the club. It is said that Patrick was an authority to his teammates, who always took his opinion into consideration.
Indeed, the highly consistent and responsible "Arsenal" coach Arsène Wenger chose Patrick Vieira as the team captain not by chance. More importantly, P. Vieira inherited the captaincy from the real "Highbury" legend Tony Adams, who spent his entire 22-year professional career at the London club and played a total of 668 matches for "Arsenal." Therefore, P. Vieira's importance to "Arsenal" is immeasurable beyond goals, assists, or stopped attacks. His influence on the team's players off the field as captain is hard to measure.
However, football experts agree that A. Wenger is a very good strategist, especially when it comes to transfers. One can recall just the acquisition of French national team forward Thierry Henry from Turin's "Juventus," where the striker was far from shining. Experts cautiously suggest that perhaps P. Vieira's departure was influenced not only by money but also tactical coach decisions. It is unlikely that any club would sell a player if he played flawlessly. Experts agree that in recent years P. Vieira did not demonstrate as impressive a game as before. Even in the impressive "Arsenal" season, when they finished the English championship undefeated, P. Vieira sometimes seemed to be not at his best. Last season, P. Vieira certainly did not resemble the team's anchor, who was the opponents' nightmare with his head shots and precise defense. Indeed, P. Vieira's performance last season can be traced back to Gilberto's injury. It was with Gilberto that Vieira found common ground on the field. The Frenchman trusted the Brazilian a lot and allowed himself to play a little more freely. Due to Gilberto's injury, he didn't play much, and therefore Vieira's poorer performance than expected is a trend in a series of events.
So, about the tactical coaching decisions: it is said that A. Wenger had already planned a replacement for his team's star before selling him. Fans talk about "Milan" defender Andrea Pirlo, but there are much more realistic candidates playing in France (especially knowing A. Wenger's sympathies for his countrymen). The BBC names four players who realistically could become P. Vieira's successors at the new "Emirates" stadium: Mahamadou Diarra from "Lyon," Samir Nasri from "Marseille," Modeste M'Bami from "PSG," and Englishman Jermaine Jenas from "Newcastle." The English media speculates mostly about the latter player, but the "Gunners" might be deterred by the asking price: "Newcastle" wants £20 million for their star.
If "Arsenal" indeed paid £20 million for this midfielder, many team fans would consider it a personal insult. They still cannot believe that their beloved club received only a £13.75 million sum for Vieira. It wouldn't be so bad if last summer "Arsenal" hadn't rejected a £20 million offer from Madrid's "Real" club. Indeed, the story with the Royal club is interesting. This story would require a separate article, but I will try to simplify it: last summer, the next Galactico for Madrid was supposed to be none other than Patrick Vieira, and "Real" spared no expense in trying to lure the French national team star. Although "Real's" policy in recent years has been to buy players for marketing purposes, the acquisition of the Frenchman would have been beneficial not only economically. The club desperately needed defensive players who could disrupt the opponent's plan, and P. Vieira would have been a strong support for the Royal club, and who knows if "Liverpool" would have really become the UEFA Champions League winner. However, it is unofficially claimed that Vieira himself refused to go to Madrid, and because of that "Real," or rather the club's president Florentino Perez, was offended. This year, according to unofficial data, Vieira himself wanted to become a "Galactico," and experts claimed that the Frenchman would have been much more suited to the style of play in the Spanish championship than in Italy, but the Royal club did not forget the previous insult and didn't make much effort (or maybe didn't make any at all?) to fight for this defensive midfielder. Especially since they acquired a similar playing style defensive midfielder Thomas Gravesen during the winter.
Another argument as to why "Arsenal" could "let go" of their star is the good performance of young talents Francesc Fabregas and Mathieu Flamini last season. These two midfielders, according to many experts, will be stars in the future, and their effective performance last season allows them to vie for a place in the main team this year. "Arsenal" fans are anxious waiting for "Arsenal" to finally acquire the "Beast." This nickname belongs to "Sevilla" defender-forward Brazilian Julio Baptista. This player would undoubtedly become a powerful force in the "Arsenal" lineup, but it must be admitted that he is a player of a different kind than P. Vieira. Although they have a similar composition, J. Baptista is an attacking midfielder and sometimes, if necessary, a forward. His goal tally in Spain says it all: the Brazilian scored 38 goals in two seasons.
However, there are two factions both in the "Arsenal" fan camp and on our portal: some say that the sale of P. Vieira was a huge mistake (both due to the meager amount of money and the loss of a key player), while others say that it was a very correct step, motivated by the fact that P. Vieira's peak was already in the past, and the money received for the transfer would be useful in strengthening the team. Portal visitors are also divided on this issue: in a survey, 62% say that P. Vieira acted correctly, while others say wrongly. However, perhaps there should be two more surveys: "Did Arsenal act correctly?" and "Did Juventus act correctly?." There probably wouldn't be a definitive answer in either survey.
What is clear is that the arrival of a world-class midfielder in London would certainly not be a surprise to "Arsenal" fans, and whether this was the right move will be shown by time and only time. We just have to wait and try to come up with "Which team can sell its captain?."
