The world according to Patrick Vieira
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Michael Regan/Getty ImagesMan of the People: Vieira greets City players during the Community Shield at the start of the season.
It is a bit strange to see Patrick Vieira not in uniform. For so many years, fans were accustomed to seeing the rugged French midfielder in an Arsenal, Juventus, Inter Milan or Manchester City shirt, until his retirement after last season. Now, when a visitor walks into the Manchester City offices at the club's training ground, he takes a quick left, passes a couple of cubicles and there, dressed in a casual suit, stands Vieira. He is taking a break from a brainstorming session with a member of the club's marketing department and is welcoming this writer to his modest-looking office that is not any bigger than 100 square feet.
Even in retirement, Vieira is competitive as ever, as evidenced by his recent comments claiming that referees were intentionally trying to sabotage Manchester City's Premier League title aspirations. Indeed, these days his passion is channeled through his position as the club's football development executive, a role he assumed last July.
Vieira sat down with ESPN.com to expound on his role at Manchester City, his thoughts on Fabio Capello's resigning from the England post, and the thrill of watching former teammate Thierry Henry score in his first match back for Arsenal.
What does your role as football development executive at Manchester City entail?
Patrick Vieira: Football development is a big part of our club, so I bring my experience to our youth development because I've been there and I know what it takes to succeed. The other side of it is I am an ambassador of the football club. It is something I'm really proud to do. The club gives me an opportunity to be part of projects from the start, and I'm learning how to have ideas about projects and how to finance the project. As a player, you know how to play football, but outside the field you don't know a lot. I don't miss playing football because what I am doing keeps me occupied.
What have you learned from the youth systems of other clubs that you can put in practice here?
PV: The Barcelona system is the best system to follow. To have seven or eight starters coming from the academy is fantastic. We know how important it is to the fans to be able to identify themselves to these kinds of players, so we try to put in a good training schedule in place for these young players. Barcelona have been doing it for the last 30 years, and at City it's just been the last two or three years. When you are talking about youth development, you are talking about time and passion. It is not something you will see overnight.
What do you enjoy the most about your job?
PV: I like to spend time with the kids. When I am in training with the under-18s or when I am training the under-14s, I see the quality of the players. It is nice to give back what football gave me. When I was young, I always had somebody I could take stuff from if I had a question. I think it has been important for these young players to have someone they can go to and have a conversation about how to be a footballer.
Paul Barker/AFP/Getty ImagesVieira celebrates with Arsenal teammates Thierry Henry and Robert Pires in 2004.
What is it like working at a club that has really emerged onto the world football landscape in the last few years?
PV: I think it is fantastic. In the last two to three years the club has progressed more than any club in England. Three years ago the club was fighting to stay in the Premier League and now we are fighting to win the league. I feel like City is the place to be at the moment.
Working in football executive offices seems to suit you. Would you ever aspire to be the president of the French Football Federation?
PV: I think if you want to be a president of any federation, you have to go into politics -- and politics is not my cup of tea. It's quite sad because I believe that football is for the footballer. Nobody can talk or understand football better than the footballers, so it's sad we don't see so many ex-players who are president of a federation.
Do you think your former manager, Arsene Wenger, would ever consider taking the French national team job?
PV: I know that Arsene likes the daily basis of managing and is somebody who comes really early to training and then leaves really late. He likes to be in contact with the players and he would miss this daily contact if he goes to the international level.
Speaking of national team coaches, you played for Fabio Capello at Juventus and obviously know him. What was your reaction to his resigning from the England post?
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PV: I was disappointed but not surprised because I know Fabio really well and he's somebody who likes to be in charge. I think as a manager, if you do not have control of some of the decisions, it is better to walk away and that's what he did. I think when you look at what he did in the last few years for England, he is a big loss for England.
In interviews before, you said you would not be interested in managing. Has that changed? Do you see yourself managing someday?
PV: I don't know. I'm surprising myself sitting here in a suit [laughs]. I'm finding myself in a position where I've never been before and I quite like it. I'm going to get my coaching badges and may find out that I want to go into coaching. I'm still really young and I think there are opportunities for me to enjoy things that I never knew were there before.
What was it like for you to see your old teammate and countryman Thierry Henry score in his first game back for Arsenal?
PV: It looked like it was something out of a film! The way Thierry celebrated the goal meant everything. I was really pleased for him because I know how much he loves the football club and how much he wanted to help for the two months.
Arch Bell is a freelance writer for ESPN.com. He can be reached on Twitter at @ArchBell.
