#8 Patrick Vieira
Patrick Vieira took the Arsenal armband over from Mr. Arsenal himself, Tony Adams – who lead the Arsenal team for nearly fourteen years. The Frenchman became the first foreign player to skipper the club and his leadership qualities were quite evident even as a youngster. As a 19-year-old, the Frenchman had already captained Cannes and would have most likely slipped on the armband earlier if not for Adams.
Dominant, physically imposing, consistent and exceptionally tactically adept, there was no surprise what so ever when the midfielder le the Gunners to two FA Cup titles and a Premier League title along with two FA Community shields with him as captain.
His controversial fiery attitude led to great battles, but it was something Arsenal needed and still need desperately today.
His clashes with Roy Keane was very well known, both on and off the pitch, but his crowning moment was the 2003/2004 Premier League season, where he lead Arsenal to an unbeaten season (W26 D12 L0), before closing the curtain on his Arsenal career twelve months later.
Arsene Wenger spoke fondly about his former midfield general, saying “We have exceptional players in midfield with their own character. But at Arsenal, we will be forever grateful for Patrick’s contribution.”
