A new era repeats itself

In summer of 1996 there was a fumbling french boy in the AC Milan football camp by the name of Patrick Vieira. He never really had much success on the football pitch. Then one day things changed. A fellow countryman by the name of Arsène Wenger had become the new coach of Arsenal and was looking for new recruitments. He saw somethin in this twenty year old boy that AC Milan coaches obviously had missed. He bought him for a measly three million pounds and brought him to England. A new era had begun. Things were difficult at the start; ask every foreign import... they will no doubt admit it. But as time passed by the little boy matured into a midfield maestro. He became a phenom, a cultured attacker, a bossy midfielder and a person whose influence permeated throughout all major European stadia. The footballing world rarely sees a player of such quality. No wonder Real Madrid have been chasing him for the past three seasons. For nine whole years this master ran the midfield of Arsenal.

But it was time to move. Perhaps the reason for his leaving was the fact that Arsenal had achieved very little in the European circuit. He probably wanted that one cup that had been eluding him throughout his life – The Champions Trophy. Maybe he was right; his quality was way too much for a club like Arsenal. He will no doubt be successful in Turin. But one thing is clear : his presence will be missed by everyone, the neutrals and the oppostion. We will defintely miss all the high tension meetings with Roy Keane. Best of luck Patrick Vieira... Au revior!

There is one thing we can definetely do: that is, place oodles of faith in Arsène Wenger. Letting go of Patrick maybe was not the best thing to do. But lets not forget that it was Wenger who brought him to England in the first place...he brought him into the limelight from oblivion. If he can sign an unknown player, nuture him and bring him to be probably the best midfielder I have seen for a long time then he can do it again. There are promising signs in the Aresenal camp already. The already present Gilberto, the prodigy Fransesc Fabrigas, Mathieu Flamini and the nick named ‘dribbler’ Alexander Hleb will have to have to do a lot of work to even come close to the reputation that Vieira had left at Highbury. And thus begins a new era again for the Gunners and English Football. Will Wenger succeed in his endeavours? Theres only one person who can answer that question : thats Wenger himself. He is a shrewd man, a thinker and a football philosopher. Trust me, he knows his way around the football market. So best of luck Arsène!