Watching Thomas Vermaelen’s decline over the last year or so hasn’t been easy (I can only imagine how tough it’s been for the man himself!). He’s a genuinely hard-worker, who’s brave and committed. He’s not the kind of player who you’ll find ducking out of challenges.
Indeed, he’s the kind of player who generally wins over fans quickly. Everybody likes to see a meaty challenge, physical battles and smart defending. On his day, Thomas Vermaelen excels at all of this.
And for a couple of seasons, he looked like a super defender. Then, however, he got given the captaincy and things started to fall apart.
His performances soon began to reflect a man under a lot of pressure. As Arsenal struggled to get the results, he struggled to lift the team.
His committed approach to the game began to look like over-exuberance as he began to mistime tackles, give away careless free-kicks, make stupid errors and cost Arsenal goals.
Eventually Arsene Wenger had to bench his club captain and make Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny his first choice centre-backs.
In the meanwhile, Vermaelen has had to battle injury problems and is still no closer to winning his place back in this Arsenal team. This may well feel like a low point in his career.
There has even been talk about a potential move away from the Emirates during the next transfer window. The Star has suggested that the Belgian centre-back is currently attracting attention from Serie A clubs, Juventus and Napoli.
Thankfully, his agent, Alex Kroes has moved to rubbish the rumours:
“We do not want to take part in this ‘game’. I want to distance myself from, and deny, these rumours. I deny absolutely everything.” (Source: The Star)
This, to me, is emblematic of the man’s resolve and character. He’s a player who wants to make it at Arsenal, who loves the club and is willing to fight for a place.
We also know that he’s good enough to make it, should he pull himself together. The increased competition is only going to help, as too should his time out of the game.
I genuinely hope there’s a lot more to come from him in an Arsenal shirt.
What’s your take? Is it time for Arsenal to cash-in on Thomas Vermaelen?
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Play him in place of flamini he has the pace to do it he will adapt to cdm