Why Vieira should be our next assistant manager

Rumours are circulating again that current assistant manager Pat Rice will retire at the end of this season.

Rice is an Arsenal legend, but it's been clear for a long time that Wenger's coaching team is in need of a shake up, and I don't think bringing back former players is just a romantic notion that wouldn't actually be all that practical.

Regular readers will know that I believe this club has lost its roots somewhat; with the move to the new stadium coinciding with the departures of long-serving, experienced players who had won things with the club, it's not surprising that some of our players don't seem to appreciate what it means to represent Arsenal.

Wenger dismantled the Invincibles too quickly, stripping the club of its best players and of its culture. It's obvious how much the young players at United benefit from the presence of someone like Ryan Giggs. And how much the players here benefited from the return of Sol Campbell last season, and Martin Keown in the 2006 run to the Champions League final, and, I suspect, from the return of Jens Lehmann this season. You get the point.

Vieira is probably my favourite Arsenal player of all time, which says a lot when we've been lucky enough to have the likes of Tony Adams, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry in our ranks. His contract with Manchester City expires this summer and he is likely to retire.

He's a fighter, a winner, and he's still an Arsenal fan. Talking about our season yesterday, he said: "I am an Arsenal supporter. I am frustrated because it's the team who play the best in England. I love watching them play.

"But there's nothing in the end. The Arsenal players are doing it right but they’ve got to add something, especially in their physical impact.

"In our time, Tony Adams, Martin Keown, Nigel Winterburn or Ray Parlour certainly had less quality in their play but they'd put their heads where others wouldn't put their feet.

"Arsenal don't have the killer mentality of Manchester United."

This is a man who was consistently our best player and best leader in arguably the most successful period of Arsenal's history, there's no way that wouldn't rub off on this group of players. And Wenger knows him well and they'll trust each other. I really hope this happens as it could breathe new life into this team.

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