Since his arrival from Ajax in 2009, Vermaelen has become a firm fans favourite and his first season saw him form an excellent partnership with Willian Gallas, quickly dispelling the concerns of many, including Tony Adams at the time, that at less than six foot he would struggle with the rigours of the English top flight. They need not have worried and his peers voted him into the EPL team of the season. One can only wonder what might have happened to last season in February when we were fighting on all four fronts if the ‘Verminator’ had been able to return from his serious Achilles injury as originally projected.
Certainly the statistics would support Keown’s claims of his importance to us.
Since he arrived we have won 61% of the games he has started and only 53% without him. Even in this current campaign his importance to our back-line is easily underlined. The Gunners have conceded an average of 0.7 goals per game when Vermaelen has been present, compared to 1.83 without him, which is shocking statistic. We have even kept clean sheets in 40% of the games he has started and 25% in those he has missed.
The bottom line is that Thomas Vermaelen is a world class defender and of course he has also chipped in with some crucial goals as well, which is not a bad knack to have. He reads the game amazingly well, has superb strength and times his jumps impeccably.
Arsene Wenger needs to be careful with both our vice captain and captain, both of whom are absolutely key to any success we will have in 2012. But I will leave the final word to Keown, as he agrees with me that when Sagna returns the first-choice central pairing will be the Belgian and Koscielny:
‘Lately, Koscielny has been playing right-back, with Mertesacker alongside Vermaelen in the middle – I think Mertesacker still has a lot to offer, whether he’s No. 1 or not remains to be seen. I think the other two are maybe the future. They’ve all played their part but while they’re doing okay at the moment, we don’t want them to be complacent though. As soon as Arsenal seem to get pats on the back, the form dips – if you go by recent years. There’s a lot of work to do but they’re going in the right direction.’
Keown is quite right of course as it did appear that the team believed the hype last season and fell away dreadfully, to finish fourth in a two horse race. The crucial difference this year could well be the consistency and the improvement of a defence, which has moved away from zonal marking, have improved their training methods and, most importantly, has its most influential figure back at its heart.
Stay fit Thomas and we might just surprise a few.
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varminator is very good! He has the passion and drive! Energy and technical ability! Wenger, this was a good ‘buy’ for sure….. Arsene knows
Arsenal has a real player in Vermalin. He is a quality defender a team player and a leader.