By Kevin Kemboi
Fabio Vieira epitomizes ‘Joga Bonito’ (Portuguese for ‘The Beautiful Game’). He has the perfect blend of ‘la pausa’ which makes him impossible to press like Bernardo Silva, but also has devastating vision and ball-striking on both feet so picks final balls out like Kevin De Bryune.
Let’s get it straight from the off – Fabio Vieira is a bit ridiculous. He’s a number 10 who’s left footed and near impossible to press due to his low centre of gravity which means he can turn on a dime and has lightening quick feet. He turns and dribbles so quickly.
When I think of a nimble left-footed 10 who can turn with ease, I think of Bernardo Silva, and Fabio Vieira is similar. Vieira spent most of his time as a 10 in Conceição’s 4-4-1-1 at Porto, much like Bernardo did at Monaco.
However, the two aren’t necessarily similar profiles
Both are left-footed, can turn on a dime, are near impossible to press due to their insane close control, and drop deep to collect the ball from the defenders, the difference lies in relation to their directness.
Fabio Vieira is more likely to force creative passes like a 10.
Thing is, the quality of Fabio Vieira’s final balls is exceptional. He generates fantastic whip, pace, and precision on his crossing from the half space or the wing. Arsenal lacked that type of devastating passer like Kevin De Bryune or City or Trent at Liverpool. Vieira aids that flaw.
Ødegaard is a special player but can often lack the power to play quick or whipped balls on the counter, in transition or in behind the defence just like a De Bruyne or Trent Alexander-Arnold can.
What I’m currently describing is a mix of Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne, and that’s utterly ridiculous to imagine, but that’s the reality of the situation. Fabio Vieira can be impossible to impress in the build-up & play intricate passes when combining with unstoppable final balls.
Output-wise De Bruyne and Bernardo’s stats are a little inflated because of how good City are and Fabio Vieira won’t be joining the end version of a project, so his output should will eventually lie between the two but should start off around Bernardo’s early teen-type tally.
However, although expectations are high, it is imperative to remember that Fabio Vieira has just turned 22 and has only had one full season of regular football, and that was in the Portuguese league for Porto. He’s about to enter the highest quality league out there.
So, an important question to ask his how does Vieira’s physical and mental profile match up with the daunting task of joining Arsenal at such a young age with little experience?
Well, he’s a man who players look up to and he specifically seeks them out to lead by example.
When conducting analysis on Vieira it became clear that he regularly gave his teammates advice on the pitch. For a 21 year old (last season) to carry on like that suggests one thing and one thing only – he’s a leader, & he’s recently been appointed the Portugal u21 captain.
And yeah, you’re damn right the above picture is him captaining Porto at 21. So, it’s as clear as day Vieira’s technical/mental qualities check out, but what about his physicality?
Firstly, he tenacious. Secondly, his profile in nature naturally means he’s robust. Let me explain
It’s near impossible to press someone like Vieira due to his low centre of gravity and close control dribbling as discussed earlier, so all a player needs from a physical point of view is to be robust mentally to ride tackles & continue on with the game when fouled. Vieira does.
The idea behind Vieira’s signature for Arsenal is to increase the technical quality of the team to help enable Arsenal become a team just like Manchester City who starve the opposition of the ball. Players like him go a long way in achieving that, & he can fit in as an 8 or 10.
If Arteta created a player in a lab to play the 8 role in his 4-3-3, Fabio Vieira would be the man.
It’s an utterly incredible signing for an absolute snippet in comparison to what he’s worth. Arsenal fans, Mikel Arteta’s elite talent identification has done it again.