Thomas Vermaelen insists that if Arsenal continue to demonstrate the same passion and hard work shown against Tottenham, Liverpool and AC Milan then the Gunners will not only achieve their aim of qualifying for the Champions League, but also prove themselves a force to be reckoned with in years to come. Currently in fourth place on goal difference above Chelsea, Arsene Wenger’s side can close the gap on third placed Spurs to one point this evening if they beat Newcastle United at the Emirates.
Speaking to the Arsenal official website ahead of the game, the Belgian international stressed that he and his teammates must stay focused in the final ten matches of a roller-coaster season.
“We had some good results against Tottenham and Liverpool and if we can play the way we did against AC Milan then I am not worried if we will be top four or not,” he said.
“If we play that way then we can beat any team. The thing is you have to be consistent and that is not easy in football.
“Newcastle are close behind us of course, but we have a few contenders there. Chelsea are still there, Newcastle and Liverpool.
“They [Liverpool] are 10 points behind now with a game in hand but they are all there and we have to be on the top of our game to fight for fourth and maybe third place, you never know. We can have a lot of confidence after this week with a lot of victories.
“Of course, a club like Arsenal belongs in the Champions League and we will try to achieve that for the Club, for the fans, for ourselves, for everybody. If we play the way we did in that first half on Tuesday then I am not worried about it at all.”
Pleased with the level of quality shown in the aftermath of defeats at both San Siro and the Stadium of Light, Vermaelen also paid lip service to the injuries, which have rocked the camp at regular intervals throughout the last nine months while crossing his fingers that fitness issues don’t hinder the current momentum.
“I believe in this team even though we are missing Jack Wilshere, who I believe is a world-class player, and Per Mertesacker – another great player.
“We have been missing a lot of players throughout the whole season through all sorts of injuries, so if we can keep the team fit you can see what we are capable of.”
Excited at the way Arsenal have faced down their detractors, Vermaelen also insists that this current squad can achieve much more as a group:
“I am really confident that we can do something in the following years.
“It is hard to say what has changed. What is important is to not look too far forward, to just take it game by game. If we are going to finish third or fourth you just have to focus on the game ahead of you. The most important thing now is Newcastle and to try and win that game.
“We are together, we are in the dressing room every day and we talk to each other every day. We talk about situations, we talk about what we can do better of course. Otherwise we would not be professional.”
I think heÄs right, but i still have the sneaking suspicion that complacency will set in after the next 4 wins…
Most have been saying it all season, for some reason this team picks its games to turn up. The greatest team in living memory could be just one point in front of us after tonight, now I’m not a fan of a top four finish being a trophy but given the season we have had finishing in top four could be arsenes greatest achievment so far.
The players need to just focus on catching the greatest team to have ever played the game and that needs to be the motivation for the rest of the season.
Squillaci out Vertonghen in
Park out Messi in
Left leg out left leg in…..oooohhhh the Okey cokey
“We are together, we are in the dressing room every day and we talk to each other every day. We talk about situations, we talk about what we can do better of course. Otherwise we would not be professional.”
Smells Like Team Spirit.
The future will be bright only if we drastically change our transfer and wages policies. If Van Persie is not in the squad next season then we might as well not bother being a football club. He should be offered 200k a week and be told that big signings are on the way. According to the Mail On Sunday yesterday we are about to sign Goetze for 25 million – let’s hope that’s true. And let’s hope that most of the dross are moved on in the summer – we need to make massive wage savings. If Van Persie stays… Read more »
So if RVP leaves we might as well give up after 125 years of football? I’m sure you made some good points after that comment but I gave up when I read that. No player is bigger than the club but RVP will be tough to replace however I think he will stay.
You don’t get it: it’s about whether we are a selling club or a winning club. Keeping RvP would lay down a marker and tell everybody that we’re not about selling our best players any more.
Why didnt you just say that fatgooner instead of: “If Van Persie is not in the squad next season then we might as well not bother being a football club” But i agree with you 100%, we cant consider ourselves a big club if we continue to sell our prized possesion to Man city, Barcelona or whoever and then wonder why we struggle through the season. But i think the penny has finally dropped, Top 4 is still not guaranteed but its loooking a lot more likely than it did a few months ago, so lets hope the club never… Read more »
I’ve just been listening to TalkSPORT. Apparently, there is a rumour going around that Van Persie has already agreed to join Man City at the end of the season. If it’s true then it might have something to do with the fact that City are going to give him about 250k a week, while we are only offering about 100k. This is while our fourth choice centre-half gets 50k a week.
This is what I’m talking about.
Its on talksport, so it must be true! lol
no wonder ur so angry, u need to stop listening to that shite!
There was some exciting transfer gossip this weekend, probably all nonsense but got me excited all the same. Vertognen, hazard and goetze in? Could see Vertognen and one other perhaps. Also talk that Song might go as his contract is running down, with M’vila or some big Spanish fucker replacing him. However at the end of each story I read those dreaded words that strike fear into all Gooners hearts – ‘any deal is dependent on moving Denilson, Vela, Almunia,squillachi and Bendtner off the wages bill’. Doh!
Sorry Fat but as usual I feel ur talking bollocks. Only one thing did ring true for me & that was ur statement that no point qual’y for CL if we can’t win it. From a non-financial, fan pov I couldn’t agree more. Only difference is I don’t see us too far away now. FFs look at our last result; on our day…etc which is what cup football is all about. And u know what, all these comments about rvp leaving being the beginning of the end r growing tired. I recall similar statements re cesc. No player is bigger… Read more »
Got me worked up I made that reply b4 I read craig’s with similar thoughts.
Our back 5 need to be at 100% this evening 100% of the time. Newcastle carry 2 strikers of very real potency and danger, and they need to be policed with extreme urgency at all times. But we do have the men to do it. No slip ups are permissable, as we can expect them to be punished if we do.
Come on boys: lets make 3rd ours and let spuds and the rent boys squabble over 4th. COYG!!!
Am not saying all the gossip has no foundation at all, but we need to remember its season ticket renewal time. Arsenal have never been known to have done business the way that’s being suggested with podolski. Maybe some is true maybe the arsenal Board have learnt the lessons from previous seasons. I think it’s more of a case that the board are shitting themselves as the grove has been far from full on many games this season and the season ticket waiting list is failing to take up the slack on st holders that are not renewing. Whatever the… Read more »
Fully agree that demba ba and cisse must be watched from the first second to the last, and sczesny must be on his toes (as he usually is) to be our sweeper cos we play a high line. I hope the ox starts the game, he deserves it. And he will be a constant threat to the newcastle defence I AM SURE OF THAT. Rosicky will be doing his silky turns in midfield, so ref please be strict on Tiote, that guy’s job is just to foul and be clumsy. I know Wenger’s favourite son (Walcott) will start tonight. So… Read more »
Fatgooner I don’t think the man city rumour is true, don’t stress yourself with the media gossip.
Rumour has it that the Twitcher will
self combust when we win tonight
Probably more true than RVP has
signed for Middle East City
I was listening to TalkShite this morning too. They say there is a credible rumour that Arsenal have done a deal with Barcelona to sign Messi. They said the fee has been agreed and Arsenal are in the advanced stages of the wage negotiations with the players agent.
On behalf of all Arsenal fans, especially FatGooner, I would like to welcome Messi to Arsenal.
Sure it wasn’t Messy? Coming from that lot, it’s only a surprise that they didn’t also link us to Tickle, Bump and Fussy.
Don’t you think that it’s strange that just as season tickets are up for renewal, we get these stories in the press – obviously not leaked by Arsenal – that we are about to buy Podolski and Goetze?
Meanwhile RvP’s future has not been settled. Apparently, he’s ‘waiting until the summer’ until he decides what he does next.
Strange, isn’t it?
On a very serious note this time, If an overseas club wants to spend £80 million to purchase him and pay him £300K a week, 1. Arsenal would be stupid not to accept it and 2. RVP would be stupid to not accept it. RVP is just one guy – our woes are not caused because our best 11 are not good enough. Rather, it is because the backup for our best 11 is not good enough. If an overseas club puts silly cash on the table, take it and build a quality squad. It would be great to see… Read more »
Absolutely agree.I hope that RVP is with us for years to come BUT he has had major injury problems in the past.He is also nearer the end than the beginnining of his career and if silly money was offered both he and AFC will probably take it and move in. Regrettably in so many ways football is purely business these days. The club and its supporters will always survive (with a few exceptions) but the employees i.e. players/managers are transient. You always hope your best players will stay for life but this is becoming less and less likely because of… Read more »
I have to disagree with you, MAllen. A trade like that would only be good if Arsenal could get a striker as good as Van Persie for less than 80 million, and I don’t have to explain why that’s impossible. It’s simply not true that every player has a price, because some players you just cannot replace. Arsenal should be focusing on bringing in more players to fill up the ranks, not on losing key players. On the contrary point to yours, how would you feel if Arsenal sold RvP to say, Real, for a 100 million and he went… Read more »
Mmiki I have to disagree with you. I would rather be getting the same 30 goals from several players rather than just RVP. His goal stats are stupendous but we are always a Shawcross away from disaster. If our other players were scoring regularly I wouldn’t care. Barcelona will still score without Messi but would we without RVP at the moment? I can still see Chamakh putting it over the bar against Leeds from only 2 yards out. He was offside but he didn’t know it at the time.
heh, you complain when we do transfer business late, because it results in signing dross, and then when it’s apparently done early, and we get a good player that all the moaners have been demanding we sign, it’s a naked attempt at drumming up season ticket sales rather than good practise? as to RvP delaying his decision until the summer, again – you’d have to be batshit insane to want him sat at home with his agent today, thinking about a £250k A WEEK DEAL WITH CITY. Unless of course you’re a citeh fan in which case it’s exactly the… Read more »
Hello, Sam? What ‘business’? Just who have we signed? Nobody!
Last summer we ‘signed’ Juan Mata – until he turned up in a blue shirt at Stamford Bridge.
As for RvP, he should remember all those years we supported and paid him while he was on the treatment table, and, as a gesture of good will, fucking sign a contract NOW and end the speculation.
And please stop calling me a City/Spurs/Chelsea fan – my name kinda gives away who I support.
So ur happy to take credence in the rvp to m city rumour but dismiss the pod & gorse to arse as complete spin. This is what pisses me off about u Fat. Be critical and demand more by all means but ur always so negative. Sometimes u need to remind yourself u support one of the greatest clubs in history & enjoy.
Might have posted that last reply in wrong spot. Hey, it’s late here in western Australia
Gotta love the Verm.
When he jumped 5 foot into the air after Szczesny saved that goon´s penalty (and the rebound) at Anfield, it was one of the iconic moments of our season. You want to know what Arsenal´s all about? Make a statue of that…
P.S. Leave the transfer speculation/bollocks until the close season. Nobody leaves or arrives until then, so anything now is just shit-stirring of the highest order. Let´s deal in facts, like tonight we have to move 3 points closer to an unseasonably late St Totteringham´s Day (owing to a leap year, or something)…
@fatgooner-stop listening to talkshite pal,it’s bad for your health as the only Arsenal related ‘stories’ they broadcast are bullshit,negative or negative bullshit…that radio station has long been banned in my house & it’s a better place for it!
Latest from TalkShite: Na$ri has been short listed for the Ballon d’Or.
RVP’s wife the lovely Bouchra has told the likes of Talkshite to go fuck themselves…. so to speak: http://m.crunchsports.com/category/Soccer/Ignore-Arsenal-FC-Robin-van-Persie-speculation-says-Bouchra-van-Persie-201203120005/