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Not less than four pages dedicated to Paddy in today' s France Football. Nothing new in here as the main part of the article is a summary of his career at Highbury and relationship (love affair?) with the fans but it ends with a LB7' s interview. Amongst other things and roughly translated, Chippy said :
"In my days Arsenal were not yet what they are now, an ambitious club who prepare to move to a stadium which will show the world that we intend to be amongst the top clubs in Britain and Europe. Moreover I was an Arsenal product whereas he came from Milan"
"Patrick is merely irreplaceable, we can' t challenge Manchester for the title without him. How many Vieiras in the footy world today? Who else could lead the team like he does? It' s difficult to me to say if he is the best [defensive] midfielder but what I can affirm is that very few people play at this level with such a consistency. They maybe are three or four in the world and Patrick is one of them.
"Arsène gave him time to adapt to English football and created an environment which allowed him to blossom. He knows it and is indebted for that to both Arsène and the club but the opposite is true too : Patrick served us in an exceptional way these past five years"
"Patrick is a charming person and nothing of a big head. He gives the impresssion to be happy here, I never saw him arriving at the club with a scowling face but always smiling. He never gave less than 100% for the Reserves and always tried to be helpful to his team-mates, encouraging the youngsters"
"He simply wondered whether his future was still here or at an other club with more pressure on his shoulders, new fans to win and a new country to settle in"
"I think he' ll stay here for a very long time if the team shows as much hunger for success as he does" |