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5 months ago
20
Patrick Vieira crossed paths with a ton of sensational players during his distinguished professional career.
He'd enjoy a long and glittering professional career, also playing for clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Manchester City and of course Arsenal, playing alongside some of the biggest names in world football.
Vieira notably guided Arsenal to go unbeaten during their 2003-2004 title-winning season, establishing himself as a club legend during his nine-year spell in north London.
And while he and Roy Keane sat down to chat about their much documented rivalry in the Premier League during the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet, Vieira also picked his dream five-a-side team.
Sitting alongside Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright and his old nemesis Keane, Vieira, a former World Cup winner with France, picked a sensational team of players that would give many other five-a-side teams a run for their money.
Former Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira (pictured) has revealed a star-studded line up of players for his five-a-side team
Vieira (pictured) captained Arsenal to the Premier League title in 2003-04 and has played alongside some sensational players during his domestic and international career
Speaking on the Stick to Football Podcast, Vieira (centre) also revealed the manager he learned the most from during his career
'Definitely Dennis Bergkamp, Zinedine Zidane, I would go for Claude Makelele because you need people to run, and I would play Thierry Henry up front,' he said on the Stick to Football podcast.
Bergkamp and Vieira played together during their time at Arsenal and were integral to helping the Gunners lift three Premier League titles between 1997 and 2004.
The pair made 285 appearances together in north London, with Bergkamp and Vieira recording 13 joint goal participations.
Zidane and Vieira would play together for France, forming part of the integral spine of Les Bleus' 1998 World Cup-winning side. We have lost count of how many five-a-side teams the ex-Real Madrid manager has been named in by his former team-mates, but he is widely seen as one of the best midfielders to have graced the sport.
The former Crystal Palace manager would also play alongside Makelele for his country, but would go toe-to-toe with the Chelsea midfielder in the English top-flight.
Makelele is widely seen as one of the best holding midfielders to have graced the Premier League making 144 appearances for the Blues in the first division before moving to Paris Saint-Germain in 2008.
And last, but by no means least, came Henry, who Vieira played with at Arsenal. The iconic French striker scored a whopping 175 Premier League goals for Arsenal across 258 league appearances, with Henry and Vieira playing together in 313 matches for Arsenal.
Vieira also included former France team-mate Claude Makelele (pictured) in his five-a-side line up
Vieira would name his former France team-mate Zinedine Zidane (pictured) as one of his midfielders
Vieira (right) named Thierry Henry (left) as his striker with the having played together for France and Arsenal
Vieira (left), who was recently sacked by Crystal Palace, said Arsene Wenger (right) was the one coach he has learned the most from
On the international stage, the pair would also win the World Cup and European Championship with France.
Interestingly, Vieira chose not to name a goalkeeper in his five-a-side team, but during the episode would also reveal the manager he learned the most from during his career.
'I would say Arsene [Wenger, who has influenced me the most]. I spent nine years with Arsene as a manager, and the way that he was coaching and connecting himself with the players, I would say he is the manager who has the most influence on me today as a manager.'
'It's about the confidence and self-belief that he has on the players, especially young players.
'You make mistakes and he doesn't take that trust away – he's a really good communicator. He always managed to find the right words to push you – he's never negative.'
Patrick Vieira was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast brought to you by Sky Bet.
English (US)