Arsenal have been blessed with some world-class players over the years, with Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp two of the best to have ever graced the pitches at Highbury.
Henry and Bergkamp were the strike partnership for the Invincibles side, and both now have statues outside the Emirates Stadium.
Alongside them in the Invincibles team, who won the title undefeated under Arsene Wenger in 2004, was winger Robert Pires, who in his own right was a truly outstanding player.
Pires and other Arsenal greats were sometimes overshadowed by Henry and Bergkamp, but there were some footballing legends in that team, and the Frenchman has now claimed that whilst Henry and Bergkamp were the best footballers around, there was another Gunner who was even better as a leader.
Robert Pires says Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira had a better mentality than anyone else
Speaking on the Obi One Podcast, Pires claimed that midfield legend Patrick Vieira had the best leadership skills and mentality out of anyone he has played with.
“When you talk about mentality, but when you play with Patrick Vieira, and he is your captain, end of the story,” Pires stated.
“Patrick [great] on the field, but spirit – the best. The best. He was the same [as John Terry]. Vieira, he was shouting at me a lot ‘Robert wake up, you have been bad today, you miss a lot of balls,’ so you need to change your mind, but you need a player. I think it was his mission.
“He was a great player, as a captain when he saw something he didn’t like, he needs to say something and I think John Terry was the same as Patrick Vieira, he was like this. Roy Keane, I think he was like this exactly, you need this. Steven Gerrard, I think he was the same, but you need leaders like this, of course on the field, but especially in the dressing room.”
Patrick Vieira’s leadership at Arsenal
Vieira was a key player under Wenger, and he became captain after Tony Adams retired in 2002.
He had massive shoes to fill when he took the armband from Adams, who had captained the Gunners in three different decades.
Vieira was also able to bring an aggressive personality to the role, and he was clearly not afraid to lambast his teammates.
The Frenchman captained the Invincibles side, and despite the presence of world-class superstars, Vieira was the main leader and the most vocal voice in that dressing room.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
