Since losing his place in March of this year, Thomas Vermaelen has made just two Premier League starts for the club.
The form of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny means he’s spent most of his time on the bench, some occasional late cameos aside when he’s brought on to help shore up a game.
Speaking about rotation earlier today, Arsene Wenger was asked if it was difficult to leave out the Belgian who is, still, the club captain.
“Yes,” he said, “because of his quality, his attitude and his influence at the club.
“It is a difficult decision because he is a top-class player. He certainly suffers but he handles it with great dignity and great professionalism.”
It can’t be easy for Vermaelen, especially in World Cup year, but Wenger says he’s not expressed any desire to leave in January (not that he’d be allowed anyway).
While it’s hard to look beyond the Mertescienly Axis of Awesome right now, there’s bound to be a time when Vermaelen is needed this season.
It’d be a cold, cold heart that didn’t want him to do well when that time comes.
I think Per would be better suited as club captain next season if he and Kos remain this good together.
I feel sorry for him, but we can’t break the Per and Kos partnership!
I feel for him too, and also respect his professionalism.
Your terminating job will soon come our dear Verminator!
I think Hull City would be a good game to rest Mertesacker and give Vermaelen some game time. We’re going to need Mertesacker at his best for the tough run of games we have coming up.
Let’s hope so
Agreed. The BFG could do with a rest, and if I recall correctly, the Verminator developed a pretty good partnership with Bosscielny a short while ago.
TV5 will get a run sooner or later, will be great to see the skipper back captaining the side as well
“Mertescielny axis of awesome” could be a heavy metal band!!! \m/
The Arsenal defensive heavy metal band Axis Of Awesome:
Mertesacker on drums, banging ’em like Frankenstein’s monster on steroids.
Koscielny on bass and vocals, controlling the rhythm without being obvious.
Vermaelen on lead guitar and vocals, leaping up and down and generally going nuts.
Sagna on rhythm guitar, smashing out riffs that no-one (not even the Spanish Inquisition) expects.
Gibbs on rhythm guitar, standing in the wings and belting out unstoppable solos.
Flamini on lead vocals, sleeveless, screaming his lungs out and ripping the heads off of bats.
I think I’d put Kos on drums and Mert on bass!
I’m pretty sure Rosicky would be instantly claiming the lead guitar role regardless of his attacking prowess!
The band is fast becoming an orchestra the moment we have some sleeveless members
There is a band called Axis of Awesome. Did that four-chord medley of songs thing 🙂
He serves as a constant reminder to everyone in the squad….you play shit, you’re dropped.
His relegation to the bench, I think, has had a very positive impact on the team.
Play well…keep your place.
Yeah santi has been struggling for a while now explains the 70th min withdrawal. jack was the same earlier but has now upped his game and is playing better.
You slack, you get the jerk!
A lot of games coming up be nice for TV5 to get atleast a couple of run outs in December. Got to feel for him BFG and Kos have just been awesome.
Per (RCB) Kos (CB) Ver(LCB) — 3
Flam (DM) / Arteta (DM) — 1
Walcot (RWM) Cazola / Ozil ( RCAM) Jack ( CAM ) Ramsey ( LCAM ) Monreal ( LWM ) — 5
Giroud / Podolski ( ST ) — 1
I would love to see Arsenal play this way..
On of the CAM s can be withdrawn to accommodate both Arteta and Flamini in need of Defensive solidarity
and the same can be done to accommodate Giroud and Podolski as strikers or LF / RF.
P.S I don’t hate our RB and LB though.
Let me guess, this worked perfectly on FIFA?
No full-backs (except Monreal)? Sagna? Gibbs? Some weird ideas there. No thank you.
No goal keeper either. I like it.
This would be the first time ever i actually laughed when i am being roasted. Good one esp it worked in FIFA. My Logic Behind that formation is that with 3 CB we can Fortify the Center. Opp wingers need to be Nullified at Midfield itself by our wingers or like a free to roam ( sweeper like ) Defensive midfielder say Flamini. 3 Creative Midfielder who can swap positions in a blink of eye with quality crosses from the Wings will be a menace to any defense.. so theoretically Stronger Defense – Stronger and Most Creative Midfield Attack is… Read more »
I think it is highly unlikely TV5 will get a runout against Hull now that Sagna is injured. Wenger talks a lot about team stability and changing 2 of the back 5 is risky, even against Hull.
That said, this is the last chance to rotate players before far tougher fixtures. Wenger might just fancy a gamble!
Personally I think vermaelens just been incredibly unlucky with the timing of his niggling injury and the resultant loss of form. All 3 of our cb’s have had patches of worrisome performances over the last 2 seasons but it seems as though his was the most costly. I still ratsle him very highly and think that if got a run in side once more we would see him back to his best.
I knew you meant “rate” instead of “ratsle”, but I found it such an unbelievable typo that I felt the need to google it in case it was actually some exotic word that I’d never heard of… I feel stupisld.
I knew you meant “stupid” instead of “stupisld”, but I found it such an unbelievable typo that I felt the need to google it in case it was actually some exotic word that I’d never heard of… I feel pathfethic.
This thread is making me feel awakaward.
I can see the EXCLUSIVE tomorrow: Arsenal to bring back Chamakh after his resurgence! 😀
If you wake up in the middle of the night and scream bloody mary 3 times….verminator will appear and shut u up.
No wonder diaby isn’t fit!
I thought he had a solid game against United considering his lack of game time, tomorrow is definitely a game he could be given time in..
No wonder diaby isn’t fit!
**Mistake.sorry.
so do we still have a soft centre with a disorganized defence Mr Hanson?
He did great against Man U i thought. He won’t have any trouble once he gets his turn.
on a side note: Chaamaaaaaaakh!!!
Personally think that his attitude is excellent but this is the same guy who made errors for a couple of years (it didn’t help with the way the team used to defend as a whole). His scoring exploits and cavalier attitude masked his poor clearances and positioning over the years. If he comes back, he’s got to play things simple and concentrate on defending. He has all the attributes to dominate an opposing striker, but has to cut out those rash challenges and learn when the right time is to step in and win the ball. Hasn’t been good enough… Read more »
Thomas would be a certain starter in EVERY other team in the league perhaps bar spuds.
@citeh he would start alongside Kompany
@United he would start along with Vidic
@spuds that is a tough one as him & Vertoghan are exactly the same
@Chelsea he would play alongside T*rry
And people talk of needing another CB, makes no sense.
I think vermaelen is where he deserves to be in this team. This is a guy who committed more errors than any other outfield player before he was dropped. It’s not bad luck when you are consistently bad for half a season.
@edu he wouldn’t start for city, United spuds or Chelsea. He would be 3rd or 4th choice in all those teams.
@edu my mistake with the thumbs up. I was trying to thumb you down
Play the Belgian,French, German together alongwith the full backs then we will see who scores against us.
Clean sheets when The BFG play together.
What a delicious problem. “Oh no we have too many good players to play them all at the same time”. What a change from 2 years ago. Those giving Vermaelen a carpeting for the amount of mistakes he made should remember Kos was just as prone to being caught out of position and making rash challenges that cost games. Kos was fortunate to be the fit defender when BFG realised his potential, Szczesny became the best keeper in the league, Sagna rediscovered his form and the defence began to finally play as a unit instead of a collection of decent… Read more »
BFG’s playing style is very efficient. Hell he played back to back 90 minutes at the Emirates Cup so unless he gets injured I can’t see him needing to be rested any time soon which is good because the problem with Kos and Verm playing together is they both like to play on the left side. Verm as captain when he returns he gets his preferred side so Kos moves over. In effect your making two changes to the defense (adding Verm, moving Kos) when you have lost just one player (BFG) That’s why people say we need another centre… Read more »
These days, I really don’t give a flying rat’s arse who starts. I know whoever comes in to play has two things ringing in their head: “if I play shite today, I’ll be kicked out next time” and “everyone’s giving their all, I can’t be different”.
The attitude this season is awesome, like everyone is connected to the same brainbox, and that’s what sets this team apart from teams past, especially the last five years.
Come On You Guns!