24 - Thomas Vermaelen

[zanela]

From one bench to another, but without the captain's armband, and with an insignificant number on the back. The fin. offer must 've been really good, as always is to all our squadies.

 

[DrPepper]

He wasn't even starting ahead of Daniel van Buyten in the World Cup and now we're paying 15-20 mil for him?

 

[Flavia]

I'm trying to focus on the bright side of having FOUR TRUE CB's this season, no more makeshifts. Baby steps... maybe if there's no ban, next season a wc cb will come. Or in 2016.

 

[Xavinho]

He was captain for a reason. His "failure" at Arsenal is pretty much down to bad luck, and kind of the reverse of what happened to RVP.

With RVP, he got those annual injuries and everyone was screaming at Wenger to buy a new striker, but he didn't and eventually RVP became good.

With Vermaelen, he got a 1 year injury, and everyone was screaming at Wenger to buy a new defender. Wenger looks at Koscielny's attributes and gets a defender (Mertesacker) who complements his style. It works perfectly for everyone involved, except Vermaelen. A year later he's fit again, still has the captain's armband, but the team moved on without him. He was simply injured for far too long. It's sad, but what else was Wenger supposed to do?

He's still a brilliant defender, but was very low on confidence after essentially losing his place on the team. Vermaelen was always very professional though, and sat on the bench without complaining, trying to prove himself with the few chances he got (Mertesacker and Koscielny were rarely injured. More bad luck for Thomas). Enrique is going to be getting a great player, and his technique on the ball was always suited for Spain. You guys are getting a defender who never stops running, can contribute to passing play in the midfield, and can even score from open play. He'll prove a lot of people wrong.

Good post. Interesting insight on his situation at Arsenal. I'm looking forward to seeing him play.

 

[instinct]

Great post, Robbie! I hope it will cool the mood down in this forum.

 

[zanela]

Robbie seems to 've a soft spot for the player (for not wanting to use an overused term). Has been singing his praise since the verm rumours began. A quick look at arsenal forums tells a diff picture.

 

[Chainsaw]

I'm trying to focus on the bright side of having FOUR TRUE CB's this season, no more makeshifts. Baby steps... maybe if there's no ban, next season a wc cb will come. Or in 2016.

3. Mathieu is a LB converted to CB.

Robbie seems to 've a soft spot for the player (for not wanting to use an overused term). Has been singing his praise since the verm rumours began. A quick look at arsenal forums tells a diff picture.

What were you supposed to call Vermaelen if he was going to come here?!

 

[oggydude]

I think he's a great for Barca cannot believe many people think he'll be on the bench, you guys have an excellent attack and midfield but overrate your current defence.

Disappointed as a United fan that we didn't get him but when Wenger demanded for Smalling in return the deal was finished, apparently LVG going for Benita now but have never seen him play unlike Thomas.

 

[Robbie]

Robbie seems to 've a soft spot for the player (for not wanting to use an overused term). Has been singing his praise since the verm rumours began. A quick look at arsenal forums tells a diff picture.

Most fans have short memories. Go back to the first 2 years when we signed Vermaelen and they were practically worshiping him.

 

[Flavia]

3. Mathieu is a LB converted to CB.

 

[Tomchin]

Remember that report about Barca-staff not wanting to sign Hummels because of his so-called injury-record? The lolz

 

[zanela]

What were you supposed to call Vermaelen if he was going to come here?!

Vermicompost (its good/bad depending on how you look at it)

Most fans have short memories. Go back to the first 2 years when we signed Vermaelen and they were practically worshiping him.

He may 've shown promise in his early ARS tenure. But he's gotten older, and suffered a series of injuries over the years. Its about how useful he's at this moment, and a lot of your fan-base don't really rate him. Players with positional flaws (verm's main weakness from what I've been reading) tend to bomb at Barca, add that to his injury-proneness, and Barca's taking a 19M € gamble.

 

[Tomchin]

Disappointed as a United fan that we didn't get him but when Wenger demanded for Smalling in return the deal was finished, apparently LVG going for Benita now but have never seen him play unlike Thomas.

Don't worry, i m sure Benatia would be a more than capable alternative for Vermaelen If Utd end up buying Benatia this summer all hell will break lose on this forum, and rightfully so.

But for Utd, isnt Daley Blind the most likely option now?

 

[DonAndres]

Some are blowing this out of proportion. We've got the situation under control to the extent that we are allowed to make a gamble transfer. However, I would've preferred that this gamble be in the form of a younger player (somewhere between 22-27) with a cheaper price and less injury problems. That'd be to minimize the downside and increase the chances of it being a success.

Vermaelen specifically holds no expectation from me to be anything but a parachute in terms of rotation or injury crisis. There's no pressure for him to do well because Bartra is improving game by game and Mathieu is a good player. We might see a much better side of him though which would be awesome luck. If Vermaelen is at his 'rock bottom' then he has nowhere to go but up. We've seen before that changes of scenery be it league or team can bring out the best of someone, there are too many examples to list out. I'm not happy with this transfer currently but he has a chance to surprise us.

 

[Bertus]

Don't worry, i m sure Benatia would be a more than capable alternative for Vermaelen If Utd end up buying Benatia this summer all hell will break lose on this forum, and rightfully so.

But for Utd, isnt Daley Blind the most likely option now?

I don't see benatia joining MU. As most players of that level, I don't see him leaving to a club that doesn't participate to the CL.

Money is not everything and Benatia is not 20yo. I only see the possibility of him leaving to a club that is in CL (but first and foremost Roma has to be ok with the fee)