Patrick Vieira opens up on Arsenal return and building something special at Crystal Palace

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira, now manager of Crystal Palace, admits it will be emotional when his side travel to the Emirates on Monday night.

Vieira arrived at Arsenal in 1996, as a man with a growing reputation, and left in 2005 as a club legend, winning three Premier League titles and four FA Cup trophies.

He was also the inspirational captain of the Invincibles side, only the second team in the history of English top-flight football - after Preston North End in 1888/89 - to go through an entire league season without losing a game.

Such feats live with you forever, and Patrick Vieira is looking forward to reliving his connection with the Gunners and getting one over them at the same time.

He said: “That is the club where I played my best football I would say.

“So obviously going back there will be emotional, but I will put that on the side because it will be important for us to perform well and to get points.

"It’s about controlling yourself as a manager and controlling the emotion.

“I always try to do that and will try to do that again on Monday."

French World Cup winner Vieira has got Selhurst bouncing with some promise and beautiful football but the results haven’t often matched their effort.

They dominated Brighton Hove and Albion but failed to take all three points with Neal Maupay scoring with the last kick of the game to cancel out a Wilfred Zaha first half strike.

Then they had to recover from going two goals down to draw 2-2 against Leicester City before the international break.

The signs of improvement are crystal clear but Vieira wants them to cut out the lapses and start putting points on the table.

He added:”Sometimes I feel really sorry for the team because I think sometimes we don’t get the reward for our work on the field.

“At the same time we are in the process of building a team and when you build a team with so many new players and ideas it takes time for the philosophy to build together and we are making a couple of mistakes.

“The mistakes are costing us a lot but we will improve and we will get better and if we can put that aside I think the performance has been quite good.

“There is still a lot to improve and there is still a lot to come from the team.”

Crystal Palace have no fresh injury concerns though talented English midfielder Eberechi Eze is back in training but there is still no set date for his return.

Vieira has been impressed with the dressing room he inherited from Roy Hodgson, describing his players as a pleasure to work with.

There were doubts on whether players will take to Vieira style and football philosophy but it’s been a strong start to life in South London, even if it’s only just seven games into the season.

“It’s interesting for me to have the group of players I have at Palace and those who can play in different positions,” the boss said.

“As a manager it’s nice to have players who come into training with  a smile on their face and can relate to everyone.

“Players that are really calm but very competitive on the field and it’s really a pleasure for myself and the staff to have him with us.”

Arsenal have signed 16 players to replace Vieira since his departure and have failed to win the league title since.

He is aware things are not so bright at the Emirates but declined to comment on why they haven’t kicked on over there in a while.

“That’s a question to really ask people who have been inside this football club,” he added.

“I’m just like everybody else analysing things from outside.

“I don’t want to get into details because it’s difficult to talk about when you don’t have all the information.”