Player profiles: Patrick Vieira

One of the keys to France having a good run in the World Cup will be the performance and form of Patrick Vieira.
An onsong Vieira can just make any team tick, the defensive shield for the back four and the starting point for attacks.

As an Arsenal fan I know its no coincidence that during Patrick’s nine years there the club was hugely successful and played the best football Arsenal fans have ever seen.
From the first game he played it was obvious what an influential player he would be, winning tackles, coming away with the ball and playing and receiving short passes that launched attacks. He was the pivot through which nearly all of Arsenal’s play went. Now he’s doing a similar job for Juventus.

As a 22 year old he only played one full game in the 1998 World Cup, against Denmark after Zidane had been sentoff in the previous match but he did get to play the last 15 miuntes of the final, laying on the third French goal for Arsenal teammate Manu Petit.
Vieira was a fixture in the Euro2000 winning team after their first match and has been at the heart of the French team ever since, captaining the side in Zidane’s absence.

In his early career he picked up a lot of red cards, not all justified in my opinion, through his willingness to make the tough tackles and general all round aggression. A lot of times referee’s were just waiting for him to go over the top for them claim a big scalp.
As he’s matured he’s managed to avoid the red cards while still being the dominant midfield player in the game.

He’s 29 now and I hope he can go into what’s probably his last World Cup fit and firing for the national team.