Patrick Vieira is regarded as one of Arsenal’s greatest ever captains.
Ian Wright has shared that Patrick Vieira wouldn’t sometimes talk to his Arsenal players during his days as captain at the club, as he told Match of the Day.
The popular TV pundit was picking his 10 best captains of the Premier League era, as he ranked Vieira sixth on his list – behind Steven Gerrard, Vincent Kompany, Tony Adams, John Terry and Roy Keane.
Whilst Wright had left by then, Vieira was more remembered for his battles with Manchester United and especially against the opposition skipper, Keane.
Nonetheless, Wright shared what Vieira was like in and around the dressing room and how he would ‘blank him’ compared to someone like Adams.
“He never captained me,” Wright told MOTD. “I was in and around him and I saw how he was emerging You could see it. It was blatantly obvious.
“I know he’s won more Premier Leagues, but we’re not doing it on who won the most Premier Leagues.
“As a leader and the way Tony [Adams] was. Sometimes, Patrick would come in and he wouldn’t even talk to you as a captain. He would blank you.
“With the French guys, I remember Tony used to have to sometimes literally, you know you say ‘Good Morning’ to the guys. You would say ‘Morning’ and they would walk past you. Blank you. They wouldn’t just speak. Nicolas Anelka. Emmanuel Petit. They are all the same.”
In truth, Wright didn’t see the absolute best of Vieira because by the time he was hitting his peak, the former Arsenal striker was no longer at the club.
Either way, there’s no doubt that Vieira should feature in the top 10 Premier League captains of all-time and he perhaps should feature higher in Wright’s list.
He opted for Keane which is understandable because of his relentless nature, both on and off the pitch.
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