Crystal Palace manager and former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira is looking forward to returning to the Emirates on Monday evening.
Arsenal fans rarely show warmth towards any opposing manager. However, things will be different on Monday night as one of their most decorated former players in Patrick Vieira, returns to the club. The Gunners legend returns in the capacity of a manager, bringing his Crystal Palace side to the Emirates.
Vieira has had a mixed start to life at the helm of Crystal Palace, with the fans now excited by their newfound style of attacking football. The Arsenal legend has recorded only a single win for his efforts, which came over London rivals Tottenham earlier, but their overall displays have been pretty eye-catching.
Formerly, Vieira captained Arsenal and was part of their most successful period under Arsene Wenger, including leading the Invincibles side. The Frenchman left at the end of the 2004/05 season and made a return with Juventus in the Champions League the very next season.
This would be only the second time the former Arsenal captain makes a return to the club and will be hoping for success this time around with Crystal Palace. He will be hoping to secure a positive result against Mikel Arteta’s side and embrace the warmth of the Emirates crowd.
Vieira spoke to the media ahead of the game and was keen on making the much-anticipated return to his former club. Transfer Market Web posted some of the French manager’s comments, where he stated his eagerness to come back to the side where he made a career.
Vieira said, “I had the chance to play for this club for nine years. I arrived [at Arsenal] as a child and left as a man. This is the club where I played my best football, I would say. So obviously, going back will be emotional, but I’ll put that aside because it will be important for us to perform well and score points.”
“It’s about controlling yourself as a manager and controlling the emotion. I’m still trying to do it and will try to do it again on Monday.”
Incidentally, before Arteta took over the Arsenal job, Vieira was one of the names linked with the post. However, he now faces his old club, with the chance of showing the board, he could be a future choice for the hot seat.
