Gaël Clichy reveals player Arséne Wenger failed to replace | OneFootball

Former Arsenal left-back Gaël Clichy has revealed that Arséne Wenger found it impossible to replace Patrick Vieira when he left for Juventus in 2005.

The Gunners have not won a title since Vieira departed for Italy after years of success at Highbury with the Frenchman as captain.

Clichy, who made over 250 appearances for the club between 2004 and 2011, reflected on the club’s success and lack of in recent years on the club’s ‘In Lockdown’ podcast.

“Patrick was someone who, when he was on the pitch in training, I felt pressure,” said the left-back.

“Not because he was shouting at young players or because he was demanding too much, but just because of his charisma and the way he was.

“Either you say, ‘Wow this guy is the captain of the club, has won this, won that, if he is training like this I cannot do less. I will not be better than him because quality is quality but in terms of commitment and hard work, I have to match that.’

“I do feel that when Patrick left, we had great players coming in, but that space he had within the team, within the club, was perhaps too big to fill for any player.”