Start to life at Arsenal has been pretty difficult for Fabio Vieira for reasons in and out of his control. But after Mikel Arteta urged for patience with the 22-year-old, the midfielder has an fast approaching opportunity to show his worth
Vieira, who impressed Arteta "straight away" during his Porto days, has struggled for regular minutes in his debut season in north London with six of his eight starts for the Gunners all coming in the Europa League group stage. And while he is thought to be one for the future, Vieira has struggled to recapture the form he showed glimpses of earlier in the season.
With all the talk of Arsenal's desperation for a new central midfielder, Vieira has struggled to earn a spot in Arteta's starting XI with Martin Odegaard, Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey all establishing one of the firmest bonds in the Premier League this season. He was selected from the off in Wednesday night's 3-1 Carabao Cup defeat at home to Brighton and unfortunately failed to make an impact - resulting in Arteta to discuss the Portuguese's form.
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"I think in front of goal he’s been unlucky because in the past two games he could have scored a few goals," the Gunners boss said in midweek.
"But every player needs time to adapt obviously. When he played against Brentford away from home and he’s surrounded with players he’s more familiar with it’s a bit easier.
We’ve asked him to play lots of different positions as well because of the needs that we have in the squad," the Spaniard added. "But, I’m not worried at all."
Arteta was then asked whether he thinks Vieira has settled in at London Colney. He replied: "Well he missed a big part because he was injured for two and a half months and he missed the whole preseason and didn’t have any preseason. I think that period in the World Cup is going to make him very good."
Vieira wasn't included in the Portugal World Cup squad, as expected, meaning he will be part of the squad that travels to Dubai for a warm-weather training camp alongside the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko, Mohamed Elneny and Kieran Tierney. The mid-season break arguably comes at the perfect time for Vieira. With no competitive games until Boxing Day, the midfielder will be able to work closely and learn from Odegaard, become more familiarised with his team-mates and increase his confidence.
Also, after football.london reported that Arteta's men will take on AC Milan and Lyon in friendlies during the break, Vieira has an opportunity to shine in action and show Arteta his quality. A chance to reset and recharge his battery, re-focus and recover from his difficult evening against Brighton won't be too difficult for Vieira.
His biggest stumbling block will be becoming a regular member for Arteta in the Premier League more often. Arsenal face a hectic 2023 with three competitions to play for and rotation may be forced due to injury, fatigue or tiredness and will require as much quality as possible in all areas of the pitch.
The next month presents a huge opportunity for Vieira to prove to his teammates, Arteta and himself that he can come off the bench and make a difference in tight games or even start from the off to provide Odegaard fierce competition.
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