Patrick Vieira stood 6'4", had legs that seemed to reach from one penalty area to the other and a temper that worried just about everyone. He was the heartbeat of the Arsenal side many rate as the club's best, and the most dominant box-to-box midfielder the Premier League has seen.
He captained that team, the Invincibles of 2003-04, and drove it from the middle of the park. With Arsenal he won three Premier League titles and four FA Cups, a haul that makes him the most successful captain in the club's history. With France he lifted the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000, alongside Zidane and Deschamps.
Vieira against Keane
His battles with Roy Keane, the tunnel rows included, defined an entire era of Premier League football. Two captains, two clubs, and neither willing to take a backward step. The stories are still told.
The last kick of his Arsenal career fitted the rest of it. In the 2005 FA Cup Final against Manchester United, Vieira stepped up and scored the winning penalty. Then he left.
Tall, powerful, skilful and a natural leader, he was the complete midfielder of his time in England, and the Invincibles were his high point.
Tomorrow: number 26, and the man from the other end of that tunnel.
