Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira was one of the fiercest players in Premier League history, but he also had a funny side.
Vieira was the captain of the Arsenal Invincibles, who won the title in 2004 without losing a single game, and the Frenchman was one of the greatest players in the history of the club.
The midfielder was known for his aggression, as well as his vocal leadership, and he was someone Arsenal’s academy stars would both admire and fear in equal measure.
One Hale End starlet during Vieira’s time in North London has now revealed a hilarious story about the former Arsenal captain.
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Steve Sidwell reveals Arsenal training ground incident with Patrick Vieira
Steve Sidwell was a midfielder impressing in the Arsenal Academy early on in his career, and was an admirer of Vieira.
However, he has now told the FC Bullard Podcast that during his time at Hale End, he once smashed into Vieira with a heavy tackle in training, but his reaction was far from what he expected.
“Back then, when you were a youth team player, you didn’t even speak to a first-team player,” Sidwell revealed.
“We did a little shadow play before a Champions League game on Wednesday night, so we trained with the pros on the Tuesday. A bit of drizzle came down on the training pitch, with the mannequins, but they were doing the sort of patterns of play past us.
“So it comes to Vieira, he just let one loose, so I just came in and just gone ‘bang’ and taken him out.
“He fell on top of me, all the first team boys have all gone ‘oh hold up, hold up,’ and all that, and I remember being there and he just yanked me up by collar, and he just goes ‘great tackle son.’
“He was like ‘brilliant,’ it was so good.”
Patrick Vieira’s aggression made him an Arsenal great
As a youth player, slamming into Vieira for a tackle was an unwise move from Sidwell, but it clearly earned him respect from the Arsenal legend.
Sidwell would never play for Arsenal, but he went on to make 200 Premier League appearances for clubs including Reading and Fulham.
Vieira clearly had a sense of humour, but in games he was a fearsome figure, who was often carded for heavy challenges and fierce battles.
The Frenchman was technically supreme and defensively solid, but it was his aggression which set him apart from others as a true Arsenal great.
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