5 Reasons why we should sign Patrick Vieira
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 at 11:16AM 1) He possesses a wealth of experience and has a winning mentality.
2) It will murk the Arsenal fans to see an ex-player wearing our Lilywhite.
3) He will have a Davids effect, which will aid the squad on and off the pitch.
4) Has great technique and leadership skills.
5) Bargain signing for free.
That didn't feel quite right. Need to clear my head. Stick my finger down my throat.
Ok. Let's try this again.
5 Reasons why we should never sign Patrick Vieira
1) He's old. 5 years past his prime and discarded by them lot over there years back because Wenger knew the player was in decline. Has shown little in recent seasons to suggest he can have any kind of impact back in England. The fact he has won silverware and has done it whilst festering in the swamps of Highbury only tells me that his personal ambitions can not exactly be sitting high up in his list of priorities, let alone the ones Spurs have as a club looking to step up. And forgive me for being a traditionalist, but I'd much prefer a squad without him than one with him in it with the winning (dirty, cheating) mentality of an ex-gooner who got mentally battered by Roy Keane.
2) Signing an ex-Arsenal player who has struggled with injuries in the slow-paced Italian league and hardly played a full season for years will not murk a single gooner off as far as the rivalry with us is concerned. Sure, they would be angry to see one of their own - unquestionably a legend for them and a player that epitomises everything about their club (cheat, scum, insufferable personality) - wear our colours, but it will simply incite laughter to see us turn to a has-been as some form of inspiration to help us move forward. This is not like bringing Bentley or O'Hara to the Lane. Vieira is an ex-Arsenal captain and it's not like he's fucking them over and joining us in his prime now, is he?
3) The Davids effect? What, you mean piss off team-mates and get into punch-ups with younger players? Davids did some good at the club, but it's a fallacy to believe he was solely responsible in the way of a major uplift of form for the side. Watching videos of Dave Mackay would be more uplifting than having a player that has not a single quark of Tottenham in him pretend he cares about the success of the teams progress. Want to aid the team off and on the pitch? Sign a CM who is 24-27 years of age and can play as back-up to Palacios who will no doubt serve a ban or two for yellow cards during the season, which will leave us with a massive hole in central midfield if we don't have a proper understudy on the bench.
4) Great technique is something he possessed 5-6 years ago when playing in the fast paced Premier League. And you can still have great technique half a decade on and it can even make make you look good when you're playing in Serie A where you have plenty of time to light up a cigar and Twitter about the step-over you're about to do. Bring it back to the 1000mph hellmouth that is the EPL and you'll find yourself in a little spot of bother. A bit like Mr Magoo walking down a street in Pamplona during the Running of the Bulls festival. As for leadership skills, sure, he can lead himself downwards to the ground allowing gravity to embrace his falling body and hug the grass as he claims for a foul when one was not committed. Although I expect his ancient legs will give way to injury and be the main catalyst for further adventures on the turfs of England. Great leadership skills there. It's the missing link in our quest for turning us into contenders.
5) If you want something for free, then wait for the start of the season when no doubt we'll be treated to more raffle prizes at half-time when the club give away yet another Opus. £5M - £10M will get us a younger, hungrier battling midfielder with his whole career in front of him rather than behind him. The transfer market might be an over-bloated joke at the moment with any target we'd love being snapped up by the likes of City, but please let's not pretend there are no options out there. Christ, I'm almost missing Comolli. There, I said it out loud. He might have ballsed it up around 90% of the time with some of his inflated over-rated signings but at least he…actually, who am I kidding? He was crap. And I don't miss him. Even though someone without sight could have scouted Wilson Palacios as a must-have for the Spurs midfield I'm sure there are other players - in England and abroad - we can take a gamble on. We have scouts, right? We have You Tube, right?
Levy, Harry…don't force me into burning bagels outside the ground again. The hypocrisy hurts.
Never red. COYS.
Reader Comments (53)
Best. Post. Ever.
Genius rant.
"A bit like Mr Magoo walking down a street in Pamplona during the Running of the Bulls festival"
LOL.
Never red indeedy.
Finally someone talking sense on this subject. Henry can stick it up his arse too.
Its the one transfer story this summer that has given me nightmares. If it was Vieira from 4 seasons ago, fair enough but a Vieira from 4 seasons ago would never consider joining Spurs. The fact he is proves he is so far past his sell-by date, he probably has a new species of scum growing out of his knackered knees.
I blame Tim Sherwood.
Even Henry said he would never recommend that Viera come here....must mean he's looking out for us...if he had Arsenal's best interests in mind, he'd tell Patrick to sign here quick
and for the record, i really wish the time stamps were local time to the viewer...its a bad tease when I see I posted at 11:53am UK time when its 6:53am here....I start work at 3:45am eastern time though so I basically run on UK time anyway haha...
Is it too much to hope this is all just an over elaborate smokescreen and we're about to sign Robbie Savage?
I would rather have Lee Cattermole... Or even Pedro Mendes back lol.. rather than wheel out an overaged ex gooner looking for one last big pay cheque!!
THANK YOU!!
I can't believe the guff I'm hearing from fellow Spurs fans on this subject.
I've already had to endure Arsenal pisstakery on this - those of you who think we're somehow getting one over on them are deluded. It's hardly revenge for them taking our captain and best player away on a free. In fact, It doesn't even compare. They find it hilarious, trust me.
The bloke found Serie A too much, if you think that he'll somehow improve our squad then you really have been conditioned to accept shit by our years of mediocrity.
I don't even dislike him for the Arse connection, I just think buying a crocked knacker is asking for trouble. Especially one with a widely publicised attitude problem.
Cheers for the typically excellent musings, Spooky.
the man is a cock and makes our very own ledley king look fit as a fiddle!! cattermole would be a better signing and i dont even want him in our team! we should look a bit closer to home for midfield and we have a wealth of good players at our disposal especially with it being a world cup year, thudd and jenas will be wanting to board that plane to south africa even bentley will and they are just the guys that sit on the bench ffs!! we are definately looking at 4-4-2 now crouch has signed and lennon, palacios and modric are going to be definate starters so i say get joe cole in for the left buy a decent cb and that should do us, sell the prince, bent, hutton and chimbonda and we are done, looking forward to a cracking EPL season from top to bottom this year and just hoping our beloved team can finally break the mould but i for one wont be holding my breath lol COYS
You're a funny guy
Oops, I like your thinking. I'm hoping the whole pre-season is just another of Harry's practical jokes so Robbie would fit right in. I think Harry is enjoying the pre-season from the travel and holiday aspect with Peterborough being his choice for an exotic kebab.
Roll on the season when we can make some observations based on facts.
oops , it hurts to say ... yes mate your hoping for way too much ... but i m hoping with you that somebody in the club suddenly realises that it's not april the 1st and that our sense of humour is wearing very thin
loved the rant spooky , spot on ... it s a joke and frankly an insult to all of us
Let the "bonfire "of bagels begin !
STu b - Nail on head. There are so many other experienced players who can still ply their trade in the Prem, its a disgrace that this player is even a considered target. Might as well draft back Sol Campbell if this is the route we plan to take.
"Bonfire of Bagels"
I like it. I'm going to use that.
;)
I disagree.Someone like Viera will probably not be in the first team regularly. But if he brings a certain "winning" attitude and if this brushes off on others - then great. I have heard so many people saying we need a leader on the pitch. Well this man fits that bill. For too long, you get the feeling that "losing is ok" at Spurs - and that attitude needs to change, more than us getting better players. The likes of Jenas,Bentley and Huddlestone are good technical players but lack that winning drive. Davids and even Naybet brought that a few years ago. He would also be great for the likes of Bostock, Livermore etc
abe ... but the question at hand is : does he still posess that winning attitude or is he just picking up one last paycheck ... and don't tell me that with the funds we have we can not find another player with that kind of spirit
Hell , i would even prefere beckham then ... please do not shoot me for that one guys :-)
ps feel free spooky :-)
You make a convincing case, but which annoys you more; that Vieira is past it, or that he was a gooner? If he was ex-AnyoneElse would you be this much against his signing?
Why give a shit who he played for?
Who are these myriad £5-10m hard men midfielders? Cattermole is not ready, we don't need young blood in there, we need experience. If not Vieira then maybe Poulsen.
belgian, no beckham here please lol. if people think viera has an attitude problem, beckham has been a huge baby since his return here. already needed to call the waaaaahmbulance for him a couple times in like a week. and the last incident was apparently an englishman (wearing an england shirt) yelling at him so yeah...don't pin it all on us yanks lol
Poulsen is the way forward.
If Vieira is as great in the dressing room as some of our fans are trying to claim, why are Arsenal not looking to bring him back to improve THEIR youngsters? They sure as hell could do with some fighting spirit/winning mentality, right?
The notion that he'll come in and somehow universally install this much vaunted "winning mentality" is laughable.
Another year of cheering on a team that promise so much but give so little. Spurs are all talk, whether or not Vieira would help spurs I don't know but I do know they cannot string two passes together after viewing them get walked around the pitch by both Barcelona and Celtic reserves..... It was miserable last year and same again this. The game is not only about player but training and strategy of which I did not see any evidence of this weekend.
I wouldnt mind if we were 5th every season with a cup thrown in here and there but getting fifth twice sacking the most promising young manager in europe then going down the tubes last season was a farce, bring back Martin Jol let him finish his apprenticeship and what he started Harry is a great bloke but how many seasons are we going to gt out of him and who will replace him.... I guess the bst thing about this transfer period is It's been quiet.
One reason we should sign him: He always seemed to score at WHL (LOL)
Oh Christ no. He's past it. Why is it only us who can see it.
Or is it Sherwood who is a gooner in disguise who has Arry's ear?
If we can't even get a song for Jenas, there's no chance of Viera being accepted by the WHL faithful.
Brilliant post. Vieira's injury record and decline as a player, combined with the fact that he is ex-Scum, should be reason enough for us not to sign him.
Redknapp has spoken about how this would even up things with the Scum, for them taking Sol Campbell from us. What? How is taking a brilliant defender, at the peak of his career and worth around £15m in the transfer market, on a free, comparable to picking up Vieira on a free, three years after Wenger got rid of him, because he was clearly on the slide?
Don't like Americans - sorry.
Do want Beckham. Will never happen.
Do want a song for Jenas.
Do like the Crouch for Bent move.
Do one Patrick Viera you gooner c**t.
I feel I've let myself down a bit with the above but sometimes it helps to swear to make a point. The point is he is past it, let alone the fact he scored the first goal that won them the league at the Lane. Unforgiveable - in fact totally unbearable. You've got to question Harry on this one.
Jenas and Wilson = the future
"youtube" as our scout hehehehe... genius
Thoroughly agree with you mate; PV has been past it for years - As much as I despise Wenger, he really does know when a player has seen his best years and always moves them on at the right time, Bergkamp excluded.
Vieira has been at Inter for 3 injury plagued years, playing a handful of games here and there and not really hitting the heights he was used to.
Why the hell we now want to sign him is beyond me! I heard an ex-Spurs player (can't remember who) last week comparing us trying to sign PV to them getting Sol Campbell all those years ago...it's not even close, big Sol was hitting his peak when he left for 30 pieces of silver!
And on top of the Vieira thing, was anyone else annoyed that we were linked with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar & Peter Crouch (they don't even belong in the same breath), but with Crouch signing it now seems our strikeforce is "complete" which will no doubt see the far better, more lethal, more talented KJH go to Milan or Arsenal?
On the Joe Cole rumours howver, i'd love to see him at WHL on the left of midfield which would free up Modric to his more suited "in the hole" position...
Amen.
Looking through the team sheet, i do feel that one day Jamie O'hara will step up as good cover for Wilson.
He does have the tackling, maybe not as good a the sargent, but nonetheless he is a workhorse.
But thenagain, thats Spurs' problem all over - were infested with young squad players that can fill a gap, but will never make it as class a superstars. You look at Manure's squad and even John O'shea can step in during a CL match and do a job against some of the worlds greatest teams. We don't have that.
If we do, they will only get frustrated at the lack of first team opportunities.
Look towards Lee Catermole, Hell what ever happened to Setphen Appiah?
BIOYC
Brilliant post. Do not want Viera at the lane. It's gonna happen though, we are Tottenham after all.
Ginaloa's Shampoo lol. By far the best online name I have ever seen - genius.
Like the player in fact. I miss Ginola as I'm sure we all do. I thought Berbatov was going to be the new Ginola but alas he is scum. Maybe Modric? He's just as exciting.
My point is - shouldn't we try to sign the new Viera? Not the old past his sell by date version. I know Harry's worked wonders with older signings at Portsmouth - look how he turned David James of all people into an England regular again! But the Viera business just seems a step too far. Surely there's someone else? Poulsen is a good shout but if you just want an old head to bring in some experience and cover when Wilso gets banned then why not someone like Hamaan or Nicky Butt (the one Newcastle player who looked like he wanted to avoid relegation)?
There has to be a better alternative to Patrick fookin Viera.
there has to be a better alternative / we are Tottenham after all ... the last two reactions combined can only mean we are in fact signing Viera ...
And it started so well this summer with rumoured KJH , Maxi rodrigues In
Bent/zokora/chimbonda Out
from then on it just went down hill to the point where we are at right now : Viera in
I m a natural optimist but it is getting really hard , even over here in Belgium people only know Tottenham as a close but no cigar team ...
Bring back Zokora.
Ah, that's better.
When a player is available on a free, and after a month you.re still the only team interested - that should tell you everything you need to know.
Did we not go through something similar with Appiah? He was with us for an age and we still decided to say no to offering him a contract. All this PV talk makes no sense to me at all.
If Thfc doesn't have any scouts I'll give them this tip for free. Moldes El Hadji Makhtar Thioune :
http://www.nettavisen.no/sport/fotball/tippeligaen/article2608694.ece
Norwegian leauges best player by far this season. Would be a perfect pairing with Wilson. His teammate Diouf just signed with man u. But because he doesn't have a "name" he will pass our radar and probably end up at the scum.
well put savio...this just needs to be put to rest
and thanks for the xenophobia maddy
Frazzler said:
"You make a convincing case, but which annoys you more; that Vieira is past it, or that he was a gooner? If he was ex-AnyoneElse would you be this much against his signing?
Why give a shit who he played for?
Who are these myriad £5-10m hard men midfielders? Cattermole is not ready, we don't need young blood in there, we need experience. If not Vieira then maybe Poulsen"
If he was ex-anybody else I'd still be concerned, much like I was with that Appiah fella. We need someone who is still playing at the top of his game. Why would we should we aim lower than that? Vieira won't play that often for us and if that's the point what if Palacios got injured? You really want to risk placing all hope on a slower injury prone player? If he was still class then most Spurs fans would accept him if anything just to piss off Arsenal. You'd almost believe he still had hunger if that happened. But he's just not that good anymore.
As far as I understand it we didn't offer Appiah a contract due to his history of injuries - why isn't that the case for the equally injury-prone Viera?
It does seem like Harry's better when it comes to established names than new talent. Fair enough the Kyles are Young and he's giving the likes of Livermore, Bostock, Rose, etc a game in pre season but our scouting network always seems to miss more then them up the road.
Another bit of Xenophobia for you us futbol lol. But they deserve it! You didn't so I apologise. There are always exceptions but in my personal experience xenophobia and islolationism are words ascociated with the US ;) but there's no need for that type of comment on here.
Just off to get some humble pie!
I'm reading stuff about Dos Santos going back to Spain...would this be loan or permanent? sure as hell better be loan...
And it's all good Maddy haha...I know the people you're talking about and I am certainly not one of them...My one trip across the pond only took me to Ireland and I very badly want to travel the UK and the rest of Europe (for soccer, excuse me, football purposes as well)...too bad just moving into the workforce and not having vacation time/$$$ will prevent that for at least a few years it seems. And when you talk to an American you apologize, not apologise! (sarcasm alert...had to do it haha)
ha ha - don't pAtroniZe me! :D
And Dos Santos needs a chance in my opinion.
Let's sign Flamini or Diarra instead. They are the sort of players that we need in our midfield and Wanger wanted to keep both of them. Now THAT would murk Les Rouges.
Viera isn't coming because he isn't better than what we have (Jenas) and not willing to be a bit part. Beckham isn't the answer b/c he can't play in CM anymore (if ever) and we already have 2 RMs. Flamini would fit the bill but I don't see him going to a non CL team.
Whenever I think of who'd be a really good fit for Palacios and the squad I think, excellent passer, good read of the game, good decision maker, tall, good set piece taker, good leader, English speaking. Than I always end up coming back to Carrick and swearing under my breath. I'd pay through what we sold him for. Arteta would be a good fit as well. Other than those two, I'm going to search youtube.
@Us football ... i m crossing the pond in september to visit your big island :-)
Artete would be very good indeed tim but i reckon he will never be put on the TL by Everton - i ve read that dos santos is going to deportivo de la coruna on loan ... he's a very talented lad but doesnt seem to be in Harry's book ...
belgian spur< I agree on Arteta being hard to get. As much as I complain about Jenas, there aren't alot of players who are significantly better that have more potential upside.
At last - some support for Jenas. Let's get behind him and all the lads this summer.
Can you believe Harry used the words RELY and LEDLEY KING in teh same sentence yesterday?! We need CB cover quick!
Well I am looking forwards to this morning's game (sky player!) as a distraction from all the negative things that seem to be going on, and see what the post -match interview tells us (i.e. if Harry's been gagged by Levy again).
I still don't think it will tell us much as I am starting to think that these pre-season tournaments aren't about refining the team selection (as someone said ealrier) they are much much more important to the club than that, as they provide:
- Direct Revenue (media / sky and gate receiept share etc)
- Expanding the 'global brand' presence in 'target markets' to increase other indirect revenue streams and potential.
- Competitive game time for most of the squad (as anyone who has trained will tell you, doesn't matter how hard you train, that first competitive game of the season somehow hurts more and you seem to give more)
- A Shop window (for player trading)
and then maybe,
- Some tactical alterations to see how players (pairs, groups of three and lines) work together to see how best to play differeent types of opposition and different set ups in a competitive environment where the result doesn't matter (as again there is a difference between seeing how something works on the training pitch and how it works in a 'proper game').
yep, its deluded to think signing vieira is great. hes declining as a player.
Christ I'd rather have Jenas poncing about and hiding than that goon scumbag going over screaming his head off like a little girl every time he's touched.