Patrick Vieira...My thoughts

 

Patrick Vieira:

I started this post with the sole intention of bashing the Board, Vieira and all the circus-like events that have occurred in recent weeks (according to our wonderful sporting media). However on writing this my opinion has changed drastically. I hope that whoever takes the time to read this will come away feeling something similar, please make sure to let me know what you think on my Twitter linked below. 

Patrick Vieira looks set to take up the reigns as the next CPFC manager following Roy Hodgson's departure at the end of last season. Vieira's playing career was undoubtedly one that secures him a legend status both in this league and for his national team in France. However, his management career, albeit still in its infancy, is far less impressive. Before i get into both my pros and cons for this appointment, I would like to mention like all Palace fans, i will back whoever is appointed to the full, and should Vieira be appointed he should be granted time, funds and a large degree of freedom when it comes to the style of play of the squad. 

Pros:

Patrick Vieira is still a very young manager in relation to some of our most recent appointments. Being 45 years old will grant Vieira a fresh memory when it comes to remembering his playing days, which should be full with experience, leadership and a winning mentality - attributes which if can be installed into our promising youth players could be an extremely exciting prospect. In terms of high-profile games there really isn't much Vieira hasn't experienced. This will allow the French international to set a very high standard in challenging times and being able to rally the team on a more personal level than the likes of Roy Hodgson, Sam Allarydce & Tony Pulis. Having been a leading member of the 1998 World Cup winning squad, Vieira should instill a confident mentality, and hopefully coaching the likes of Luka Milivojevic on how to become a dominating midfielder and improving his leadership qualities, to ensure he retains the armband for next season. Another controversial aspect of Patrick Vieira's management, is his ability to deal with big attitude players. However, one thing is clear, that should Patrick Vieira see much success at Selhurst Park this season, it will be largely down to Wilfried Zaha. With Patrick Vieira being one of the most celebrated midfielders in recent decades, the hope would be that a level of mutual respect may be shared between the two, perhaps Vieira as former captain will encourage more players to protect the talisman from the consistent treatment he receives throughout the season. This is something I strongly believe was lost under Roy, a lack of hardened individuals fighting for each other, both on and off the pitch. Too many times last season Zaha was left to react, complain at teammates and get frustrated without anything being done on the touchline. It is my hope that the new manager will change this and adopt a better feeling of togetherness, such as the squad of 2012/13 which was full of leaders. Finally, and most importantly when it comes to Patrick Vieira's pros, is his ability to work with youth. Vieira started at Manchester City in the position of "Football Development Executive"where he was trusted to spot, nurture and push forward young talent at one of the leading academies in Europe. It was from this that Vieira was given the opportunity of joining New York City FC (whom where also owned by the City Group) as manager. Here Vieira enjoyed a very successful spell which relied on young talent such as Jack Harrison who had worked with in his time at Manchester City. This surely appears to be a crucial reason as to why Vieira was considered for the Palace job, as it is no hidden secret that youth will play a major part next season with the likes of Omilabu, Rak Sakyi and Reece Hannam all impressing heavily in the youth set up in their last campaign.

Cons:

This section is more going to consist of concerns that I currently hold about this appointment as opposed to discrediting Patrick Vieira in anyway. With the wealth of potential successors being linked after Roy's departure, my personal opinion was initially one of great disappointment when Vieira was first linked. Nuno Espirito Santo, Lucien Favre, Frank Lampard and Sean Dyche all seemed (and still do) like better appointments due to their experience in the English game, the toughest leagues in the world. This unfortunately, will always loom over Vieira's head, as the pedigrees of Nuno and Favre especially, are ones that were highly anticipated and extremely welcomed at Selhurst Park. Whilst this is no fault of the former Arsenal captain, his experience pales in comparison to that of the other coaches, having only managed 2 professional clubs for a combined total of around 4 years. This is something that deeply worries me personally. An attribute which I feel is criminally overlooked in managers today, is how they have coped under an enormous amount of pressure before. Many of the other candidates have successfully beaten relegation battles in the past. Until you are really tested at this level in those situations there really is no telling on how you are going to react.  Unfortunately for us, we lack assurances that Vieira will be able to overcome dogfights and guide us to safety should we get off to a bad start, whereas recent managers we have parachuted in to great success have notably been able to demonstrate this ability at other clubs. Vieira will almost certainly opt more to keep the ball much more than we have been able to in the last few seasons, another reason he likely impressed in the interview. Choosing to play a 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2 formation. Playing out from the defense was also demonstrated heavily at Nice with full backs drifting inside to offer more passing options. Overall these tactics will likely be implemented to ensure Palace keep the ball more: something that will be extremely welcome to me as I'm sure it would other Palace fans, as possession stats have been woefully low in previous seasons. With this however, comes a great degree of risk. For 4 years, if not longer, our squad has been pretty poor at keeping the ball, especially moving the ball from the midfielders into the attackers. Implementing this new playing style will be extremely interesting either way, and I am certain that we will need multiple first team signings in order to see this happen successfully. Besides, who better to come in and coach our midfielders on how to keep the ball than one of the best midfielders who has ever lived?

To conclude, Patrick Vieira on a first glance is a completely leftfield appointment. However on closer inspection, his brief management career has seen him take an extremely favorable view on youth, this matched with palace's exceptional youth potential and the recent CAT 1 academy could see our current squad filled with some of South London's finest talent fighting for the badge. As I have written this, I must admit I have warmed to the idea of the Arsenal legend taking over, and I believe it could be a very mutually beneficial appointment. As long as the board put their money where their mouth is with this decision I am certain we will have enough quality in the squad to stay up. This season is a huge one. Get it right and we could see some football that we have never seen before at Selhurst Park, with a younger, fitter more aggressive squad than our current one. Wrong and.....well it is not worth thinking about. I for one will be singing Vieira's name as loud as ever, the squad, coaches and club will need every bit of support us fans can muster.

Please do let me know what you guys think of this, this is my first real go at doing a blog and if you have made it this far let me know. It would mean the world if even a few of you have taken some time out of your day to read this, I'd love to know who you are. Messages go to @CPFC_Curt on twitter.