Jermaine Jenas says Arsenal had a player whose feet were so big that you couldn’t even see the ball

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Jermaine Jenas played against many great Arsenal players back in the day.

The Englishman is most popular for his time at Tottenham Hotspur, for whom he played over 200 games in all competitions.

However, Jenas recently claimed that he actually wanted to sign for Arsenal before he made his move to the other club in North London.

Now, the 42-year-old has heaped praise on one Arsenal legend – the great Patrick Vieira.

Jermaine Jenas explains how difficult it was to play against Patrick Vieira at Arsenal

Vieira joined Arsenal from AC Milan when he was just 20 years old.

Arsene Wenger convinced the Frenchman to join the Gunners even before he arrived to take charge of the club in 1996.

Vieira proved to be one of Arsenal’s best-ever signings, and he dominated the Premier League for the better part of the next decade.

Jermaine Jenas played seven times against Vieira and didn’t win a single game. He says it was so difficult to play against the former Arsenal captain, especially as he couldn’t even see the ball when he had it.

He said on the Beast Mode On podcast: “I think the Vieira one was eye-opening. He was way more technical than I think people give him credit for.

“He wasn’t just a physical specimen in terms of he’s going to impose on you. He’d flick the ball over your head, he would do Cruyff turns on you, he would chop, he would run past you with the ball… He was ridiculously technical.

“And you just had to be careful of how you handled him. If you got too close to him, he’d just throw you out of the way. So you had to get your distances right.

“And also, you couldn’t see the ball. His feet were that big! So I used to have to do this thing where I used to have to try and creep on his shoulders, where he couldn’t quite see me. And as he was knocking it down, I would time my run to take it off him.

“And also, when he was around you, you just had to be, especially at Highbury, if you took more than two touches in that ground, you were finished.”

Arsene Wenger had the perfect replacement for Patrick Vieira at Arsenal

Vieira left Arsenal in the summer of 2005 and joined Juventus.

The Frenchman was the captain of the club at the time, and losing him was a massive blow because of what he brought to the pitch.

Arsenal fans hoped that Wenger’s eye for talent would help them replace Vieira, and Abou Diaby was viewed as that player.

Even Vieira admitted that Diaby would’ve been better than him, but injuries ruined what could’ve been a stunning career at the top level.

As a result, Arsenal still haven’t found a replacement for Vieira. They might never do so.