Today, Patrick Vieira celebrates his 41st Birthday. But rather than being any part of the club he became a legend at, as the midfield driving force behind Arsenal’s iconic Invincibles campaign, the Frenchman is earning his managerial stripes in MLS with New York City FC, a consequence of his ties with one of the Gunners’ divisional rivals and a club he represented just 46 times during the dying embers of his career - Manchester City.
Of course, Vieira has no divine right to be employed by Arsenal at the post-playing stage of his career. Nonetheless, for a former captain of top-class quality, incredible experience, an enormous understanding of Arsenal Football Club and such obvious leadership abilities, you have to wonder why the Gunners have left him out in the cold, only for one of their title competitors to embrace him as firstly reserve team manager and then the gaffer of their American affiliate. The City Football Group are nurturing Vieira and clearly rate his potential highly - Arsenal, meanwhile, are standing idly by, seemingly prepared to pass up on everything the former France international could offer them.
It's not just Vieira either; Arsenal’s entire setup is almost completely bereft of the characters and players who once made the club one of the most defensively resilient outfits in Europe under George Graham and then the most dominant, irresistible force the Premier League has ever witnessed. The only ex-player exceptions throughout the Arsenal staff are scout Gilles Grimandi, one-time youth players Kwame Ampadu and Daniel Karbassiyoon, Steve Gatting and assistant manager Steve Bould. How much influence the latter has, rarely seen actually conversing with Wenger during his five years next to him on the touchline, remains open to debate - but an educated guess based on his apathetic body language would be near minimal.
Searching for reasons why stems back to the age-old criticism of Wenger’s reluctance to delegate and his dominance over the backroom power structure at Arsenal. Compounded with the complete Wenger-in-Wenger-out split of the Gunners fan base, Wenger’s refrain from bringing a former player under his wing is more understandable than ever. From a political perspective, a popular figure hanging over your shoulder, looking on disappointedly at the edge of the shot for every post-concede grimace, is never a good idea. In fact, it’s almost a self-setup for his own sacking.
Yet, Wenger must know his days at Arsenal are numbered, regardless of his latest deal. Every contract offered has been of shorter duration than the one previous, whilst the dissidence against his generation-spanning tenure has continually grown. His determination not to leave appears to be, in part, due to a belief that no manager can carry on what he’s started or be trusted to maintain the philosophy that now defines Arsenal, but the two-year deal signed earlier this summer represents Wenger’s last chance to address that and ensure he leaves a legacy behind - former players like Vieira, who have not only a unique understanding of the style of play but also what is required to make it successful in the ever-competitive Premier League, can and should play a massive part in that.
It’s not always the case that top Premier League clubs have coaching talent in their former players to call upon, but Arsenal do. Tony Adams may have failed as a manager but he was once a very competent assistant to Harry Redknapp at Portsmouth, achieving their highest league standing since the 1950s and winning the FA Cup. Likewise, Marc Overmars helped build the Ajax side that reached last season’s Europa League final as Director of Football whilst Denis Bergkamp has been on the club’s coaching staff since 2011.
David Platt is another who has played a part in the trophy-winning revolution at Manchester City as Roberto Mancini’s former colleague and even Thierry Henry, Arsenal’s all-time top scorer, attempted to get involved in Arsenal’s youth set-up before being eventually turned away by Wenger. Similarly, Vieira is clearly a promising managerial prospect; he’s already turned down opportunities to man the dugouts at Newcastle and Saint-Etienne, whilst his performance at New York City FC has been solid if slightly unspectacular for a club that only came into effect in 2015, finishing fourth last season.
With two years to go until his future is once again a divisive talking point lingering over the club, or in real terms probably 18 months, now is the time for Wenger to bring someone in, someone who understands him, his philosophy and Arsenal Football Club and who could eventually succeed him, carrying on what Le Prof has spent the last two decades building in north London. Vieira seems like the perfect candidate at the age of 41 but as ever, Wenger’s resistance to change will almost certainly stand in the way.