Vieira will kickstart Gunners' title bid says Wenger
First Published: Dec 25, 2004
Arsene Wenger is hoping team skipper Patrick Vieira will show his future commitment to Arsenal by helping to kickstart their title challenge in the second half of the season.
Vieria has relatively struggled for form and fitness during the campaign so far however Wenger believes the France midfielder can be the "most important player in the Premiership in the second half of this season" as they try to claw back Chelsea's five-point lead.
The Gunners' French manager also revealed he expects Vieira to finish his career at Highbury having spurned the chance to sign for Real Madrid at the end of last season.
"I would like him to finish his career at Arsenal. I think it's possible, yes. With Patrick, I have had some hard battles. But spontaneously, I would say, yes, he will not go anywhere else," said Wenger.
"I was convinced he would go to Real Madrid. But the day he decided to stay, it was not because he was under any threat.
"Real are having a bad patch, they seem to have lost their self-belief, but they will come back. It's just that the players have created something special here and they just want to enjoy that and go as far as we can together."
Vieira now has two-and-a-half years left on his contract, and Wenger added: "Patrick has two-and-a-half years to go, so we are not in a hurry. We have some situations in which we have to deal more quickly.
"Patrick owes me nothing, he just owes the club and his ambition to give the best he can give. That's how he behaves and I have no doubts about his commitment. I know one thing - he believes we are in a good position."
Wenger is confident that Vieira can lead the recovery, starting at home to Fulham on Boxing Day, as he believes Jose Mourinho's league leaders Chelsea will soon drop points.
However, Wenger insisted: "We expect him to be the leader in the second part of the season. He is showing signs in training of complete recovery and focus.
"I feel he will certainly be the most important player in the Premier League in the new year.
"He feels he has a big part to play as we have such a young team. Players like Campbell, Bergkamp, Henry and Vieira are the leaders of the group. The captaincy is a very important thing for him.
"He was down for a while when he got injured again. I felt he came back too early against Manchester United and was not completely ready but he wanted so much to be in there.
"We were guilty of pushing him back in too early, but I'm very positive about his attitude and the way he deals with his problems.
"His return to form and fitness will at least help us put up a fantastic challenge in the title race. I am convinced of that."
