“The difficulty when deciding to go into management is: when you are a player, you are an individual,” he said. "You think about yourself first: how you can prepare yourself to perform at the weekend.
“When you go into a job as manager, you think about yourself last. You think about the players, the training, the tactics, and then you start to think about yourself. The transition was challenging for those first couple of months.
“After that, it is about accepting the fact that I wasn’t playing anymore. That’s why having those experiences with Manchester City Under-21s, New York City and Nice allowed me to really understand that I don’t exist anymore – I am a manager.
“It’s all about the players. It allowed me to be clear in my mind today.”
Although Vieira the player could call on Arsene Wenger for guidance during their time together at Arsenal, Vieira the manager can still lean on his former mentor for advice.