Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has admitted that the North London club let him down due to the fact that they didn’t give him the opportunity to start his coaching career at the Emirates Stadium.
Frenchman Vieira joined the club in 1996 from AC Milan and went on to spend 9 years winning 3 league titles (1997/98, 2001/02 and 2003/04), 4 English FA Cup titles (1997/98, 2001/02, 2002/03 and 2004/05) and 4 Community Shield titles (1998, 1999, 2002 and 2004) before leaving for Juventus in 2005.
He came back to England in the twilight of his career to join Manchester City and ended up on their coaching team once he retired from football including taking charge of their development squad before recently been appointed as manager at the club’s sister side in Major League Soccer (MLS), New York City.
Vieira while speaking on the coaching chance that never materialised with RMC stated that he had hoped for more help from Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger concerning the matter.
In his words, he said: “It’s true that after spending nine years at Arsenal, it’s the club of my heart – the one where I played my best football – I would have liked if the door was more open to me or other players who spent time there and who would have wanted to learn their career as a coach.
“Unfortunately, that’s not the case. I was lucky to arrive at Manchester City at the right moment, but it’s true that it leaves a little disappointment with regards to Arsenal.
“I don’t think that [myself, Thierry Henry or others] have the ambition to claim the spotlight at Arsenal, because it’s not possible. Things must be done naturally.
“I don’t know the demands of everyone, but in my case I just expected a call to ask me if I would go and learn my craft at Arsenal – without taking the place of the U21 or U19 coach, because they are good at their job.” he further added.
Vieira led New York City to second place in the Eastern Conference in 2016 thereby reaching the MLS play-offs for the first time.
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