Patrick Vieira is back in Ligue 1. He is indeed the new coach of Strasbourg, Racing announced on Sunday, of which the American consortium BlueCo has just taken control. The 98 world champion signed up for three years.
At 47, he succeeds Frédéric Antonetti, thanked “by mutual agreement” on Tuesday despite the success of the “maintenance operation” which had been entrusted to him on his arrival in Alsace in February. The Corsican allowed Strasbourg to climb from 17th to 15th place in Ligue 1, avoiding a descent into the second division.
A legend of the Blues
“Patrick’s arrival should allow us to progress further and take a step forward,” said Marc Keller, club president, on Sunday evening. “He fits the profile we were looking for: a coach with international experience, also with a good knowledge of Ligue 1 and young players. »
With Patrick Vieira, it is an icon of French football who will settle as soon as the recovery on the bench of Meinau. He has 107 selections for the France team, including 21 with the captain’s armband, and a career that has seen him chain to prestigious clubs (Arsenal, Juventus Turin, Inter Milan, Manchester City). World and European champion with the Blues, multiple champion of England and Italy, Vieira had a well-filled trophy cabinet when he retired in 2011. Ex-French international (6 caps) too , Marc Keller also found himself three times in blue with Vieira, in 1997.
Since his retraining as a coach, however, Patrick Vieira has never lifted a trophy. In New York (2016-2018), Nice (2018-2020) and Crystal Palace, where his mandate started in 2021 ended abruptly last March for insufficient results, he encountered as many disappointments as successes.
A match against Lyon to open the season
In Nice, during what was until now his only experience on a French bench, the premature interruption of the 2019-2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic had allowed him to snatch 4th place, synonymous qualifying for the Europa League. It was precisely after a defeat against Bayer Leverkusen in this competition, Nice’s fifth in six group stage matches, that the club’s leaders had thanked Vieira during the season, in December 2020. Nice was then only 11th in Ligue 1.
Vieira is expected to join the Strasbourg workforce on Monday, for the resumption of training for the Alsatian club with the prospect of the 2023-2024 championship, which Racing will attack by receiving Lyon on the weekend of August 12 and 13. .