Funny Arsenal Christmas party story involving Patrick Vieira during the early Arsene Wenger years

Funny Arsenal Christmas party story involving Patrick Vieira during the early Arsene Wenger years
It’s that time of year. Christmas parties are in full swing and footballers are delving into their wardrobes in search of their best Batman and Superman costumes.The traditional knees up involving players of today are usually kept low key, with alcohol off the menu for many – things have definitely changed a lot in the last 20 years and here, talkSPORT.com was reminded about a very funny tale involving an Arsenal get together in 1996.Shortly after Arsene Wenger took over at Highbury, players wanted to head out and celebrate the most wonderful time of year, but the Frenchman was very reluctant to do so, as LeeDixon once told Four Four Two.3

Wenger was reluctant to let his players out for their Christmas party bash, but relented, before slowly making his mark on the team

However,after some convincing from club captain Tony Adams, they were given the green light.“The tradition was we would go out and get absolutely leathered and then recover on our day off,” Dixon explained.Pre-Wenger, Arsenal’s drinking culture was legendary, with players hitting the town for their ‘Tuesday Club’ as they usually had Wednesday off to recover.There was a lot of change when the Frenchman took over as he slowly started to make his mark in north London. New recruits were drafted in from abroad – 21-year-old Patrick Vieira being one of them – where the culture was a little more focused on diet.3

Vieira was signed from Milan for 3.5m in 1996

And when the young midfielder turned up to one Christmas bash in the capital with his car keys, his team-mates were horrified.Asked for an explanation, he said he had driven there to enjoy a meal and a glass of wine before shooting off to prepare for the next training session.It was like he was speaking a foreign language. “The boys weren’t having that,” Dixon added. “So we took his keys from him, and soon Patrick was loving it and dancing on the tables.” Wenger is credited with revolutionising the preparation of players and their diet as squads faced increasingly demanding fixture schedules.Speaking about the boozy nights out, Ray Parlour told the Telegraph in 2013 what the club’s first pre-season trip with Wenger as manager was like.New French lads had come into the team like Patrick Vieira, Emmanuel Petit and Gilles Grimandi,” he explained.“We worked our socks off and at the end of the trip Wenger said we could all go out. You know what we were like, we went straight down to the pub and the French lads went to the coffee shop.Ill always remember the moment Steve Bould went up to the bar and ordered 35 pints for five of us. After we left the bar we spotted all the French lads in the coffee shop and they were sitting around smoking.I thought: How are we going to win the league this year? Were all drunk and theyre all smoking. We ended up winning the [Premier League and FA Cup] double that year.3

Arsenal won the league and cup double in Wenger’s first full season in charge

---

Murphy clashes with journalist who asked Guardiola 'ludicrous' FFP question talkSPORT 13:22 20-May-19 'He's going to go' - Danny Murphy thinks one key Leeds player will leave Elland Road this summer This Is Futbol 12:43 20-May-19

---

Transfer news and gossip: Manchester United star to sign new deal, Barcelona beat Liverpool to defender and Celtic and Rangers battle to sign Portsmouth ace Plus, Mousa Dembele closes in on China move

---

Benjamin Mendy: Man City defender has won six trophies despite playing just 22 matches Mendy has suffered two serious knee injuries but has still won a World Cup in that time By talkSPORT
Benjamin Mendy: Man City defender has won six trophies

---

Joao Felix next club odds: Wolves, Juventus, West Ham and

---

Laurence Bassini exclusive: Bolton buyer vows to lead club back to the Premier League within three years Leave a Reply Cancel reply Your email address will not be published.
Talk Sport | SportSpyder

---

Antonio Rudiger has revealed he is not in talks with Chelsea over a new contract. The defender had been rumoured to be thrashing out a new deal with the Blues, but the German insists he is happy with his current terms. The 25-year-old has almost four years to run on his existing Stamford Bridge
Antonio Rudiger sees no reason to seek a new contract at

---

Eden Hazard will be forced to change shirt number if he joins Real Madrid Chelsea-News.co (Weblog) 11:07 3-Jun-19 Real Madrid and Chelsea negotiating transfer of Eden Hazard with meetings in London Daily Mail 10:59 3-Jun-19
Chelsea transfer news LIVE! Eden Hazard, Callum Hudson-Odoi

---

Southampton vs Tottenham Preview: Probable Lineups, Prediction, Tactics, Team News, Betting Odds & Key Stats By Raman on March 9, 2019 12:34 am | Leave a Comment Football News 24/7
[Teams] Southampton vs Tottenham: Confirmed Line-Ups From St

---

Celtic 2-1 Rangers: Chris Sutton slams Scottish FA for charging Scott Brown over Old Firm derby incidents. Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton has accused the Scottish Football Association of reaching 'a new low' over their decision to charge Scott Brown in the wake of the Hoops' defeat of Rangers.
Vauxhall - putting the Grandland X on the map - Daily Record

---

Liverpool midfielder Ovie Ejaria has ended his season-long loan deal with Rangers and will return to Anfield immediately. Rangers announced the news on the club's website, saying the 21-year-old
What Sheyi Ojo will bring to Rangers and why Steven Gerrard

---

I never want to lose that': Steven Gerrard on his huge challenge as Rangers boss and THAT slip at Anfield Steven Gerrard opens up on arguably his darkest moment on a football pitch
Rangers boss Steven Gerrard asked about Liverpool return as

---

Brendan Rodgers ready to go all-out to keep 'Rolls Royce' Ben Chilwell at Leicester Six-cap England left-back, 22, has been linked with a £60million move to Manchester City, Liverpool or

---

Italy legend Andrea Pirlo slammed Divock Origi after Liverpool's Champions League final victory over Tottenham on Saturday. Jurgen Klopp's side won the trophy for the sixth time in their history
Liverpool news: 'I really didn't like it' - Pirlo critical of

---

Craig Kimbrel, the other glaringly overqualified but evidently unemployable pitcher, Deadspin brings you the latest sports news, stories, videos, and more.
The Official Site of Major League Baseball | MLB.com

---