Paddy's off to Italy, Pires wants out and Campbell's been linked with a swap deal for Jermaine Jenas. It's all like some horrible nightmare!!! Especially Jenas!!! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Nah seriously, I for one have implicit trust in the manager's decision. Every man and his dog has an opinion on Vieria's sale, but the bottom line is that no one on the face of the earth knows his mental and physical state better than AW. I still rate him as amongst the world's elite players, with the rare ability to take the game by the scruff of the neck and dominate proceedings. This is largely attributable to his style of play, ie throw yourself into every challenge and push people out of the way until you win the ball, occasionally getting sent off in the process. Naturally, this makes him fairly injury prone, increasingly so as the years have gone by.
Think about it, how many times have you seen an Arsenal game where Vieria has NOT at some point been a crumpled heap on the turf, mouth agape, clutching his shin/knee/face, when you usually get that empty-stomach feeling and say to yourself,
"Oh shit. Pleeeeease not Vieria"
9 times out of 10 he shakes it off and carries on, but when you are approaching 30 all those knocks begin to take their toll. He was not at his best last season, and Wenger clearly feels we've had his best days. Arsenal have to realise he was never going to be around forever. Yes he was worth £23m last year, but he'll be worth even less next year, so £13m to me is a good deal.
I don't want one average season and the annual flirtations with Real Madrid to tarnish an otherwise legendary Arsenal career. He gave us his best 9 years, proved himself the best in his position at his peak and while not perhaps a great captain, he was at least a good one. In true Arsenal style, we still made a £10m profit on him even after 9 years and notably, he left with his last kick securing us the FA cup.
He who laughs last, laughs hardest Roy. HAH FUCKING HAH.
1996 - 2005
He leaves with his head held high and no ill-feeling from most Arsenal fans at least. Best of luck to you Paddy, thanks for the memories.
As for a replacement, "Arsene knows", and he just does. Diarra for me, Essien without the £20m price tag and hype.
Heard a stumbling block on Sky about Vieria as he has not asked for a transfer ect Arsenal will have to pay the remainder of his contract up which is supposed to around 6m! take into account that you will get 12-15m and is it really worth it? Some serious negotiations to take place, i cant see it going through today!
