Patrick Vieira was driving home from Crystal Palace’s training ground one evening and decided to swing by the academy. He walked in, chatted to staff, swerved questions about his illustrious career with typical modesty, and went off to watch the under-13s and 14s train.
Vieira stood by the side of the pitch for 30 minutes, much to the delight of the players and coaches. The first-team manager, a legend of the game, had taken time out from his intense schedule to study the talent coming through. It meant so much to them, and this was not a one-off visit. Vieira drops by when he can, often when en route to watch a match. His work ethic as a manager matches his efforts as a player.
Those visits to the academy show Vieira’s attention to detail and love of the game, and help to build the feeling at Palace that they are all one team. The 45-year-old arrives for work early and leaves late. The staff and players know he will stop for a chat, shake hands, ask how they are, little touches of civility and humanity often lost in high-stakes workplaces.
It has taken Vieira more than a decade to become an overnight sensation as a manager. It has taken his constant desire to develop and also taken assistance from a range of individuals — from Brian Marwood at Manchester City to Claudio Reyna at New York City FC, and advice from Pep Guardiola along the way. It has also taken the work of Steve Parish, the chairman, Mark Bright, the former player now club ambassador, and Dougie Freedman, the sporting director, to create an environment in which Vieira now thrives at Palace.
Key to this progress has been Vieira’s quiet drive. Reyna, New York City’s then sporting director, would always marvel at how Vieira would review the tape of the day’s match twice before going to bed. Vieira’s spell at Nice between New York City and Palace was marred by occasionally confused and unconvincing tactics, ultimately costing him his job in 2020, but his determination to pursue a career as a manager ensured that he absorbed every lesson he could, however painful, and so improved.
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It is why he has managed to take four points off Guardiola’s Manchester City this season. He frequently talks of his love of entertaining football, almost a purist philosophy, and Conor Gallagher’s goal against Brighton & Hove Albion in January involved every player, including the goalkeeper Jack Butland, but Vieira also possesses a pragmatic streak. His tactics in both games against City, packing the centre, and unleashing Gallagher to press high, forced City wide where Jack Grealish, Gabriel Jesus and Riyad Mahrez were then ambushed. It required constant concentration and ceaseless work but Palace managed to stop City scoring over 180 minutes. Then counter using the pace.
When Vieira spoke after Sunday’s 4-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Everton, he kept repeating: “It is just one step forward.” He can keep all the understandable fans’ euphoria at reaching Wembley in perspective, having played in eight FA Cup semi-finals himself. It is all about taking the next step forward for the team, just as he too develops.
It is down to Vieira’s determination to make it as a manager, dating back to 2011 when he retired from playing and began doing his coaching badges. As Arsène Wenger appeared reluctant to appoint heavyweight names as his assistant at Arsenal, Marwood appreciated Vieira’s promise and ambition at City in 2013. He spent a week studying Guardiola at Bayern Munich and his development continued at New York City, but his career appeared to have stalled at Nice after a promising start.
So there was some trepidation when Palace appointed him last summer. He was still unproven. Yet staff were excited at their new manager saying that he hoped to play Michael Olise, Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze in the same team. Some statement of attacking intent. He did exactly that against Everton, with Gallagher joining Eze in pushing on from midfield and Jean-Philippe Mateta up front.
Vieira has developed tactically, building around his 4-3-3 system, always thinking deeply, drawing on all the knowledge acquired as a player, especially at Inter Milan when talking tactics with team-mates.
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He becomes so absorbed in the game, so determined to maintain engagement with his players on the field, that he can wander from his technical area, as at Old Trafford in December when he strolled in front of Manchester United’s dugout towards the Stretford End such was his desire to communicate with his team. He has always talked about “that intensity, the love for the game, the passion for the game”.
His “just one step forward” philosophy reflects his attitude as a player, focused on maintaining momentum. He was too often depicted as the warrior, rucking with Roy Keane in the tunnel during his Arsenal days, charging through games, yet there has always been a subtlety to Vieira’s play, just as there is to him as a man and a manager.
People can forget what a magnificent all-round player he was, that he was blessed with touch and intelligence as well as tenacity in winning the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France, becoming an Invincible with Arsenal and four-times Serie A winner with Inter. He has always been surrounded by success, and that enhanced his mindset.
He has made Palace less reliant on Zaha, who seems to be relishing life under Vieira. He has quietly demanded players take responsibility, as he did. Vieira’s last touch for Arsenal was a penalty in a shoot-out against Manchester United to win the FA Cup in 2005. He has improved Palace at set pieces and made them more watchable. He has tapped into the fantastic atmosphere whipped up by the Holmesdale Fanatics and other supporters at Selhurst Park, that bond and backing giving the players even more belief.
Any comparisons to previous great Palace eras such as the celebrated times with Terry Venables or Steve Coppell in charge are premature. Where echoes are found are in the influence of a remarkable manager, the atmosphere, the buzz around the team and the stadium, the home-grown players in the teams of Venables (Kenny Sansom and Vince Hilaire), shrewd recruiting under Coppell (Ian Wright for £30 a week initially, Bright signed for £75,000, Geoff Thomas for £50,000, Alan Pardew for £7,500, as well as academy lad Gareth Southgate), and now the mix of home-grown and smart signings for which Parish and Freedman deserve great praise. Due credit must also be afforded Roy Hodgson and Ray Lewington for their vital work in keeping Palace up during straitened times.
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Last summer was huge for Palace. Players such as Andros Townsend, Wayne Hennessey, Patrick van Aanholt, Connor Wickham, Gary Cahill and Scott Dann left. Two thirtysomethings, James McCarthy and Mamadou Sakho, were released. Gallagher, 22, on loan from Chelsea, and Marc Guéhi, the 21-year-old who cost £18 million from Chelsea, arrived and both are now in the England squad. Olise, 20, cost only £8.4 million from Reading. Mateta, signed from Mainz for about £8 million after a loan spell, is proving a versatile target man.
South London is a hotbed of football talent and the presence of Vieira at Palace will encourage even more gifted youngsters to join the impressive academy. Their parents will have grown up watching Vieira and anybody who meets this humble champion realises what a man of substance he is. No wonder Palace are going places under Vieira, including Wembley.
Chelsea must have fans at Wembley
Sympathy for Chelsea is hardly coursing through football, but it would be iniquitous, and against the FA Cup’s sporting integrity, if their fans were denied access to the semi-final against Crystal Palace at Wembley. An independent ticket agency could be given the list of season ticket holders and ensure revenue did not go anywhere near the sanctioned owner, Roman Abramovich. As long as that agency keeps handling fees low.
Time to take a stand on Qatar, England
England players are at St George’s Park this week and need to release a statement voicing their concerns over human rights in Qatar, where they contest the World Cup this year. They have made gestures and statements over all manner of issues in the past so cannot now delay following the Dutch and Germans in taking a stand. As the FA has ruled out bidding for the 2030 World Cup, England need not bother about upsetting Fifa. Just do it.
