Patrick Vieira says Martin Odegaard has done the job of Arsenal captain in his own way, as the midfielder prepares to add his name to the club’s list of title-winning leaders this weekend at Selhurst Park. Arsenal were set to face Crystal Palace on Sunday with the Premier League title in sight, and Vieira, the last captain to lift the trophy for the club before Odegaard, said the moment carries the weight of a long wait.
Vieira, a three-time Premier League winner, lifted the title for Arsenal in 2004 after the 2-1 win over Leicester City. That was the club’s last league crown before the current surge, and he said ending a 22-year wait made this run especially important for supporters around the world. “I think it is a really important period for us - after 22 years, winning the league,” Vieira said. “I think all the supporters around the world are really pleased and really happy at the moment. All the credit to the club, to Mikel and to the team because this is a big achievement.”
He added that seeing the celebrations brought home what the title meant after years of near misses. Arsenal were runner-up three times in a row before winning the league in 2002, and the 2025/26 campaign has followed a painful stretch of setbacks, with a Carabao Cup final loss, an FA Cup exit and defeats to Bournemouth and Manchester City leaving the side second going into the final five games. Vieira said the club had been through another difficult spell before getting over the line. “I saw the images [of the celebrations] and you can see what that means to the supporters,” he said. “I think that shows Mikel and Arsenal had their ideas in place and kept working. Now you understand the work that has been done to get where they are today.”
The comparison with Arsenal’s past captains is a revealing one. Vieira pointed to Tony Adams as a more vocal leader, while describing his own style as setting the tone through action. “I think you have a different profile of captain. You had a profile of Tony Adams who was quite really vocal. Me, I was a bit the opposite. I was more leading by example on the field, by putting my head where the people would put their feet,” he said. “Then you have Martin Odegaard who is more a technical leader of the team on the field, and I think he fulfilled his role really well in not being scared to get the ball on his feet and [dictate] the tempo of the game.”
Vieira’s point is that Arsenal have won with different types of captains, but the demands on the team have not changed. He said being out of the Champions League was especially hard because it was one of the club’s targets, and he recalled how a squad can look strong one week and fragile the next before finding a way through. That is the thread linking Adams, Vieira and Odegaard: not a single leadership model, but three captains who shaped different title-winning teams in different ways. For Odegaard, the final step is simple enough. If Arsenal complete the job this weekend, he will become the latest captain to carry the club back to the top after 8,044 days.
