Vieira shocked by Nasri France snub

The midfielder made a massive contribution to Manchester City's 2013-14 Premier League title success but Didier Deschamps has opted not to take the playmaker to the World Cup

Patrick Vieira thinks that Didier Deschamps has made a huge mistake in leaving Manchester City star Samir Nasri out of France's World Cup squad.
Vieira has played alongside Nasri at international level and now works closely with him at the Etihad Stadium, where he is on the coaching staff, and cannot believe  thatDeschamps could even consider leaving behind the midfielder who helped City win their second Premier League title in three years.
"It's a mistake," said the former Arsenal captain. "If you want to have a chance of winning the World Cup, you have to take your best players. I think this year Samir has played fantastically well. He was one of our best players at City and played a massive part in our success. "He did everything to go to the World Cup and he deserves to go to Brazil. His first year at City was really good but this year he has been fantastic, scoring goals, making assists. The way he has grown up is his influence on the group and the team. He is a positive lad, he has been working really hard and he is taking more responsibility on his shoulders."
Nasri has picked up a negative reputation which has followed him around since he was a boy wonder in France, while his time at Arsenal ended with an acrimonious move to City, but Vieira insists that the playmaker does not deserve to be labelled a troublemaker.
He added: "I played with Samir in the national team and I am still working with him at City. We have never heard anyhing like this about him.
"I think in France sometimes they are not strong enough to deal with big personalities and he does have a strong personality. It's quite surprising because Deschamps has personality and experience."
Vieira does not believe that Nasri's exclusion will affect City negatively, though, and he knows that the challenge for them is to retain their Premier League title this time.
"It is important, if you want to make your name in the top tier, you have to try to win it back-to-back [titles]," he said. "When I was at Arsenal, with all the experience we had, we never won it back to back and it is really important if you are there to win it - bam, bam, bam - three or four times in a row. That makes a real impact.
"It is about how you deal with the success. Of course, if you win it and go to any other ground as champions, it is going to be more difficult because  people want to beat you even more. Mentally we will have to be prepared for that as a football club."