NEW YORK – Patrick Vieira will always be thankful for the compatriot who first helped him feel at home at Arsenal.
His name was Remi Garde.
The 20-year-old Vieira had just arrived in North London following a move from AC Milan. Garde, 10 years his senior and the only other Frenchman on the club, welcomed him with open arms.
“He was the older one, the only other French guy on the team at the time,” Vieira told MLSSoccer.com. “When I arrived at Arsenal he was there and he was looking after me. Since then, we are good friends.”
With Garde taking the reigns as manager of the Montreal Impact earlier this month, the old friends will become new foes next season when the Impact meet Vieira's New York City FC side. And yet Vieira was an influential voice in Garde's decision to make an MLS move.
“I talked to him how as a coach you can really enjoy coaching and putting your ideas and building something that you can be a part of it,” Vieira said. “I talked to him about the strengths and weaknesses of the league and just gave him an idea what to expect on the level of the game, the quality of the players. We had a good conversation.”
Clearly Garde was sold, because the former Lyon and Aston Villa manager signed on with the Impact not long after.
Vieira, left, and Garde, second from right, in a group celebration during their playing days at Arsenal / REUTERS
Vieira said Garde’s genuine personality and his ability to work with young players – characteristics Vieira saw in abundance when he visited Garde at Lyon a few years ago – should translate with Montreal.
“He wasn’t scared to play young players, he’s got the passion of the game to help young players develop,” Vieira said. “He was part of a Lyon team that developed a lot of players, he was the director of the academy, he went into coaching. His background and the way he sees the game is really interesting.”
Garde is the latest foreign coach looking to make an imprint in MLS. He follows successes like Vieira, NYCFC Chicago's Veljko Paunovic and Atlanta's Tata Martino, whose teams all qualified for the Audi 2017 MLS Cup Playoffs.
“The coaches who have come in and have been successful are the ones who listen and try to implement their philosophy with not changing everything because there are some good parts of MLS that should stay,” Vieira said. “This is why Tata or Pauno or myself have been doing OK in this league.”
Vieira said he’ll continue to offer Garde his help even though they are now Eastern Conference rivals.
“Our friendship is bigger than just a game of football,” Vieira said. “My experiences I’ve had, I’m going to share them with him and if I can help him in any way I will do it because I remember when I arrived at Arsenal he was the one who was helping me get comfortable and express myself on the field.”
He's also looking forward to that first meeting between the old friends, and perhaps a post-match bottle of Bordeaux.
“It’s going to be try to win the game first, of course,” Vieira said. “And then after the game we’re going to enjoy a good wine I would say.”
