Crystal Palace New Manager, Patrick Vieira
If you play FIFA or know a bit about football’s past, the name Patrick Vieira will ring a bell. Patrick Vieira was a former football captain for France and played for clubs like Arsenal, Juventus, AC Milan, Inter Milan, Cannes, and lastly while finishing his career he played at Manchester City. However, at the start of 2016 he has appointed the job to the MLS Team, New York City FC and from there began his managing journey. Vieira is not the only past player to start managing, to name a few, Pep Guardiola from Spain who manages Manchester City, Zinedine Zidane who just gave up his position at Real Madrid, and especially Gareth Southgate who manages the England national team playing currently at the Euros tournament. Pep has proved his worth by conquering the Premier League with his Manchester side, in one year he won them the Carabao Cup, Premier League and also the Runners-Up to the Champions League. Conquering Spain since the start of his management in 2001, Zinedine Zidane has won five Champions Leagues, five FIFA Club World Cups and six La Liga titles. On the other hand, Gareth Southgate has led the England national team to the Euro 2020 Semi-Finals against Denmark after being the first-ever country to never concede a goal this far into the tournament with Jordan Pickford from Everton in the goalkeeping position.
Vieira not only managed New York but in 2018–2020 he also managed the French Team, Nice. Recently, on July 4th, Patrick Vieira was appointed to the Crystal Palace management job.
Crystal Palace is a professional football team from London, England who plays in the Premier League. Crystal Palace finished 14th in the Premier League last season with 44 points, just keeping him a few spots from the Relegation Battle Zone. Crystal Palace’s manager prior to the new appointment, Roy Hodgson, who began his management for Crystal Palace in 2017, sadly stood down from his job in London and said, “I really am stepping away from football for a while, but who knows what the future will be? I’ve seen so many people retire with all the fanfare blazing, only to surface again somewhere in a fairly short period of time. I’d prefer not to do that.” when asked about his retirement as a football manager. Considering that, Hodgson has been managing football since 1976 and even managed the England National Team from 2012–2016, his management job is soon to be complete.
On signing with Crystal Palace, Patrick Vieira stated, “I am really excited to have this opportunity to return to the Premier League, and manage this great football club as we begin a new chapter together.” Crystal Palace’s first Premier League game this season is against another London club, Chelsea, on the 15th of August. This could be the season where Patrick Vieira can prove that Crystal Palace has what it takes to battle with the Premier League’s Top Six. Patrick Vieira, however, hasn’t been able to prove himself yet as a world-class manager and will now have to come up against the best teams in Europe such as Champions League Winners, Chelsea, and Champions League Runners-Ups, Manchester City. Vieira’s best bet would try keeping him out of relegation since Crystal Palace holds the record for having the most relegations.
How good is the southern London team, though? Crystal Palace has a solid squad with players that have proven their skills before in the Premier League such as Nathaniel Clyne, Christian Benteke, Wilfried Zaha and Jack Butland in goal. Crystal Palace only needs good management to set them in place and possibly qualify them into European tournaments like the Conference League. It is only a matter of time until we find out what the southern London team can hold against the other 19 best teams in England.
