Arsenal are the best says Vieira

Arsenal captain Patrick Vieira has backed manager Arsene Wenger’s verdict that the Gunners are the best team in England.

Manchester United won the Barclaycard Premiership title, overhauling an Arsenal lead which at one time stood at eight points.

Vieira blamed Arsenal’s inability to win the “ugly” games on their failure to retain the title.

The 26-year-old feels the fighting spirit at Highbury is not as strong as it was when he arrived in London, and believes Sir Alex Ferguson’s side have “more hunger”, even though there were “really rubbish” at times this season.

“I have seen Manchester United so many times on television this season and they were playing really poor football – really rubbish,” he told one newspaper.

“When I was watching they just did not play well. But United have this or that player who comes up with a trick, they score a goal and then they win one-nil or two-nil.

“I think that was the difference this season. Arsenal are the better team.

“In fact, there is no doubt that we are the best football team in England.

“I tell you, Arsenal play fantastic football, but what has been shown is that playing fantastic football is not enough.

“We did not know how to win enough of the ugly games this season.

“The fighting spirit on the pitch now compared to the team of my first two seasons at Highbury is completely different. It is less.

“Manchester United have, how can I say it, more hunger than we do.

“As a team they are much more experienced than us but they have more players who have that vital hunger.

“Also, Arsenal are completely different from them. We need a good team performance to win a game, but they have so many players who win games by themselves.”

Vieira believes the blame for Arsenal’s failure to retain the title lies squarely with himself and his team-mates.

“The thing is that we are good enough to compete with and beat Manchester United.

“So if we do not win the title it is my fault, it is the fault of all of us as Arsenal players.

“Sometimes we have to look at ourselves in the mirror and say that we did not perform – that we did not give our best.

“It is too easy to say that we were not good enough, because that is not true. We were.”