I started United tunnel row - Vieira
Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has revealed he
started the infamous tunnel row between the
Gunners and Manchester United in 2005.
Vieira sparked a hostile exchange between the
two bitter rivals at Highbury as the players
lined up in the tunnel ahead of kick-off.
The bust-up was partially captured by
television cameras, with United's Roy Keane
responding angrily after Vieira exchanged
words with Gary Neville.
United went on to win the Premier League
clash 4-2, with neither side punished for the
fracas, and former France star Vieira admitted
he caused the tunnel chaos in an ITV
documentary, Keane and Vieira: The Best of
Enemies, to be screened on Tuesday.
"I started it," Vieira said. "I was cool, I was
really calm, I was smiling at him - and then he
lost it.
"When we played at Old Trafford his (Gary
Neville's) tackling was flying in on Robert
Pires and he was doing it on purpose, and I
said 'listen, we are not at Old Trafford here,
this is Highbury'.
"So I said to him 'if you touch Robert, I will
come after you'."
Keane explained how he joined the assembled
players waiting to take the pitch to find Vieira
mid-flow with Neville.
"When we were going out for the start of the
game I had forgotten my armband, and when I
came out I had seen you at the top of the
tunnel having a go at Gary," Keane said.
"What really annoyed me that night was that
you were picking on Gary, you were almost
picking on the weakest link, so that's what got
my back up.
"There were two or three of you ganging up on
Gary, simple as that."
Keane admitted he "hated" Arsenal at the peak
of the sides' rivalry, which saw the two clubs
win nine Premier League titles between
1995-96 and 2003-04.
"I had a lot of hatred for Arsenal because they
were big rivals," Keane said.
"I can't think of any other word that springs to
mind when I was going into battle with
Arsenal. Hatred was the word."
Meanwhile, Vieira believes his former club's
lack of leadership could ruin their bid to end a
woeful run of eight years without a trophy.
Few would question the tough-tackling
Frenchman's leadership qualities and Arsene
Wenger's side have failed to win a major
trophy since Vieira's 2005 exit.
They finally look capable of ending that barren
run this season after climbing five points clear
at the top of the Premier League.
However, Vieira still believes the relatively
young squad would benefit from greater
guidance when the going gets tough.
"I think when you look at Arsenal they play
fantastic football, but you need to win games
playing badly and I don't think Arsenal are
capable of that at the moment," Vieira said.
"And maybe as well there is a lack of
leadership. They may not have a Tony Adams,
a Sol Campbell, a Martin Keown.
"These kinds of players who can be a leader
on and off the field."