What does a Premier League midfielder look like? Before 1996, that answer was defined by muscle, brawn and a proclivity for imperious, bone-crunching tackles.
Then came Patrick Vieira.
When Ian Wright laid eyes on the lanky 19-year-old upon his arrival at Arsenal from Milan, he assumed, like so many others, that Vieira would be eaten alive by the meaty ball-winners that defined early 1990s English football. No one could be that lithe and slim and hope to dominate an English midfield. Not back then.
