Like A Boss

"Yet Again Arsenal In A Matter Of Seconds Have Turned Defending Into Classic Counter Attack"

It is a well-worn tale that Arsene Wenger insisted upon the signing of Patrick Vieira from AC Milan before he would put pen to paper on his own contract to join the Arsenal. As much as Wenger was an unknown quantity, so too was Vieira. It wouldn’t take long for either to justify themselves in the Premier League. Vieira became the fulcrum around which Wenger weaved Arsenal’s intricate passing game, combining the graft and guile with which to strip opponents of the ball and immediately launch the Gunners into attack. 

No one in the league but our Captain had both the bollocks to go toe-to-toe with Roy Keane, the pinnacle of midfield enforcers in England, and the technique to play football while doing so. I recall days at the pub with fellow Gooners predicting at what point in the match Vieira would wriggle out of trouble by executing a perfect sombrero over his marker and then propel us forward with those gangling strides. 

As he did so, the likes of Henry, Bergkamp, Pires, and Ljungberg swarmed on all sides of him; ruthless sorties of breathtaking pace and finesse giving him an orgy of options from which to pick the point of attack. But to capture the lasting image of Vieira in my mind, it’s worthwhile to highlight the reverse scenario.

Arsenal entered the away leg of the 2004 North London Derby on the verge of winning the Premier League title, having learned just before kick-off that Chelsea succumbed to Newcastle, meaning only a draw was necessary to be crowned Champions for the third time under Arsene Wenger. Only a few minutes in, the Invincibles signaled their intent to take the initiative and ensure the title that day. An early Tottenham corner was cleared by Gilberto onto the foot of Henry just inside the D of our own penalty area. 

From the center of the goalmouth scrum emerged our Captain, and as the fleet footed striker carried the ball up the wing Vieira matched him stride for stride, swallowing the sunlit pitch in great gulps. Henry played a delicious through ball to Bergkamp who with his first touch sent across a perfectly weighted pass, begging to be lashed home. 

Who else but Vieira? Usually the one to start the attack, he literally ran the length of the pitch to finish the move, put Arsenal ahead, and set us on our way to winning the title on enemy ground. He set up Pires for the second goal in that match, we won the league at White Hart Lane, and a few weeks later just like Adams in Wenger’s first title push Vieira, our Captain, popped up with the last word in the last match to secure history as the team that just could not be beaten.



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