Thomas Vermaelen
Emperor Commodus - Pic courtesy of Arsenal.com
So there you have it, we have signed the new saviour of Arsenal, Thomas Veraelen, captain of Ajax and regular for Belgium. A lot of blogs are saying we have signed Senderos’s older brother, but I don’t agree, I think the boss has thrown a bit of a curved ball in here, first of all £10mil for a punt on an unknown is a lot of money, especially for a defender, but a long time ago the Mancs spent £28 million of a certain Rio Ferdinand from Leeds and he was relatively un proven, so £10mil is only a lot for us, but Wenger wouldn’t spend that if he wasn’t sure, trust me, and I know we aren’t supposed to trust people that say trust me, but trust me all the same.
What we have lacked at the back is a tough tackler, one who can read the game and one who can be a threat at corners, Kolo has passion and I love him, but he’s not a centre back in the true sense, Silvestre is too old and injury prone, Djourou is also injury prone and makes the odd error that we all wince at and I really think that Senderos will be the makeweight in the Melo deal which will be next up.
I now wonder who will go, I think that Gallas and Vermaelen will be our new pairing with Djourou and Song as the back up, I have a feeling Kolo will go to ManCity, but only because the rumours won’t go away and if Wenger can fund the arrival of Melo then he will, I would hate to lose Kolo because I love him, he is Mr Arsenal, but we do need a tough tackling midfielder and if he plays for Brazil then we can’t really go wrong.
Everything I have seen of Thomas Vermaelen reminds me of Martin Keown and if he turns out to be half the man Keown was then we have done a great bit of business.
I remember when George Graham blew £2mil to bring Keown back from Everton, rich really as Graham sold him to Villa in the first place, we all groaned as he blew our entire budget on a defender and we already had Adams, Bould and O’leary, and these were the days when Ian Wright cost us £2.5mil, so it was a shed load of money, but Graham believed in building from the back and the rest is history, so Arsene, I applaud you, great signing, but don’t stop whilst you are on a run, get the defensive midfielder we need, get a winger if you can and replace Adebayor, if we sell Kolo and Eboue along the way then our exposure to the ACN is hugely reduced but if you do that, you have to replace them with ready to go players.
I still have a feeling that Wenger will get a Zapata or an Alex in, sell Gallas and give the number 10 shirt to Arshavin, I think that because Wenger has made a point of telling us that Vermaelen can play at left back and is left footed, it’s like he’s saying goodbye Billy boy, still whatever you do do Arsene, give Vermaelen the proper number so we don’t get confused, give him the number 6!
I think that next season Rosicky, Bendtner and Eduardo will be in the groove so I would sooner get a winger in if I had the choice, and if we keep Ade, I think he should be second choice because his attitude stinks and he’s not as good as he thinks, dropping him may improve him.
But if it were up to me I would sell him and bring in a world class winger, that or a second hand chair leg, anything other than Ade.
Have a great day Grovers, we finally have something to smile about!
25m for Tevez? Honestly without his workrate he is worth about 10m at most.
Its level at the moment 0-08 each
The Confederations Cup is delayed coverage at 9:20 on RTE 2 they are showing South Africa and Spain
He shows a bit of passion and determination thou, 2 things which united fans felt was worth keeping. Arsharvin is similar for us, he shows up the the lazy players like diaby and adebayor.
By the way….who is Martin Vermaelen?
I think opinion has changed on Tevez by the mancs, I think some feel he is a trouble maker.
Time for an ice cream Stu
Stu – its a link between Keown and Vermaelen
Stu – Waterford 0-10 Limerick 0-08, they are old though so we’ll catch them second half
kelsey, do you have Chilled monkey brains flavour?
Keyser, will i always be remembered by you as the ice cream eater?
Irish, thanks, i get it now. Clever.
irishgunner Says:
June 20, 2009 at 15:22
Do you know who are meant to be a top couple? Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis. A college lecturer meant them in France about two summers ago and said they were two of the nicest people he has ever met.
Emmmmmmmh Johnny Depp
——————
i met him once and he’s indeed a nice guy *)
Pft Depp is as boring as dish water!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4ZG4_fOoNc&feature=related
Fucking hell Stu, where are you from, the same town as Irish (no offence Irish, I meant it in the nicest possible way!) she said the same thing!
Ajax have confirmed he has been bought for £8.5m but could rise to £10.2m depending on appearances and what not.
Whats that now Geoff? What same thing did we say?
sorry to make u jealous
i didn’t meet vanessa, i hope this can comfort u!
Ha ha Geoff we are
Thing is I would mean it in the nicest possible way if I were you, Limerick ain’t called stab city for nuthin nah what I’m saying.
Irish, dont make threats, its rude!
Cartman – don’t apologise, I am happy for you.
I think I’d collapse if I meant Johnny Depp….or kidnap him..
And in fact Dublin has a higher rate of stabbings its just that the media (bastards wgereever you go) overlook many of the stabbings up there because its the capital and all.
I’m not making threats Stu, I merely telling Geoff that all Limerick people aren’t as nice or understanding as us, if anything I’m been nice.
errr, irish r u a girl???
Stu,
you are so excited you called me keyser, have another scoop
DAMN IT Kelsey! You’ve won this round but i’ll have my day!
I think i spend too much time on the laptop. My fingers have a mind of their own now. Sometimes i just type and dont pay attention. Just like above.
Every week in the tabloids there is an expose on Limerick gangsters and nothing has happened in months
Cartman – Yep. If I’m male no-one ever told me and I’ve ahem all the wrong parts
By the way all the tabloid reports are wrong, i can understand Irish perfectly
gallas has made 107 appearances for us and has scored 13 and walcott in 106 has scored 14
Irish, you’re very ladylike (on here). I cant imagine why anyone would misake you for a man.
Whats your point Cartman?
luzhny in 110 appearances has never scored!
Stu I called him Martin Vermaelen after Martin Keown and the only people to ask me who Martin was, were you and Irish!
was just stating sum facts! if u want to compare, in 197 appearances campbell has scored 11 and toure in 326 has scored 14
I shall not start another tabloid rant Kelsey – its the weekend
Geoff – your humour is lost on us I think
Since he hasn’t received a number yet, someone is leaving for sure…
stu, i really thought irish was a guy!
Geoff, i just didnt make the connection. Didnt really try either. Lack of effort on my behalf i suppose.
Maybe noone else noticed the title except Irish and I.
pat, he’s asking his feng shui master which number wud suit him!
Cartman – why? just out of curiosity
Cartman, you never noticed that she never curses or slags people off? I thought her being a woman was obvious. She is so mannerly.
Lets all compliment Irish and make her uncomfortable and embarrassed.
Stu – you’re on to something, maybe we are the only two to read the title.
dont know, maybe bcoz of ur nickname!
Compliment away Stu – put me on a pedestal
Pat, if you ask me the whole number allocation needs fixing. Gallas as no.10, Sagna as 3, Diaby with no.2 and Ade having a number in the first place is a disgrace!
Te Irish edition of Le grove says
All hail the new saviour of Arsenal? Martin Thomas o’ Vermaelen
My nickname is a bit lazy to be honest
irish, wud u slap a guy who told u that he’s gay??
Ajax and Arsenal FC have reached agreement about the transfer of Thomas Vermaelen. The transfer has a total worth of 12 million euro, of which 10 million fixed and 2 million variable.
Kelsey – if he is as good as we are lead to believe then there must be some Irish blood in him
Why isnt Irish a choice for translation in the side thing? Its racism i tells ya!
No Cartman, why would I do that?
C’mon Limerick FFS, two points in it Stu
just askin coz i told a girl that i’m (i’m not of course) and she slapped me
in my opinion senderos has been given of the short of the stick,most of last season he wsa playing alot better than toure,but he made some huge mistakes though that did not help him but he is much better that silvestor and i the senderos is as good as dj for sure but i think it was senderos who wanted the move,i think mentaly he was gone after we lost to liverpool in the chapions legue game,its a shame becuase i think he would good cover but wenger clearly has other plans. it is last season he dis not have alot funds so he add to make big gambel on silvestor who clearly has not played in long long long while which i feel mostly down to his persistant injury problems, i realy wenger just sells on a free.i realy hope gallas stays but if he goes wenger get good price for him but i see gallas/toure warming the bench with world cup looming
That wasn’t nice.
Unless of course you were chatting her up and leading her on and then told her you were gay and she thought it was you not liking her or been smart?
is there a certain HEAD here? first name DICK!
Hey i’m asking if there is a DICKHEAD here?
Well Cartman, why did you say that in the first place. I eliminates any chance you had before you have even started.
wow irish, spot on!
I would be happy to keep Senderos as one of the 3 CBs. Vermaelen, Gallas/Toure and Senderos. Because Silvestre doesnt count, JD isnt ready yet imo and Song will be off to the ACN.
Well maybe you deserved a slap then Cartman, knock some sense into you
In light of the clever name-combination in todays post i think we should get Martin Keown in to work with the defenders and Vermaelen in particular. The we could almost actually have Martin Keown.
Finished I’d say Stu, 2 mins left and Waterford are 7 ahead
maybe i deserved it or maybe not! coz i wud have dumped her 3 days later and it was better that did not have the chance to know me!
yeah, get keown as defensive coach
Cartman, how could you know when you would have dumped her? Or maybe she would have dumped you. Its rude to be rude!
hey wat’s that waterford thing?
has the spanish team been released for tongiht yet? Is Cesc injured or is he playing?
Hiya Kenny I’ve not seen anything yet
stu, coz i’m going to lausanne this tuesday and only 3 chicks have ever dumped me so the chances are really slim
Irish, honestly….i dont really care. GAA isnt really my thing.
Feck sake, lost by 8 points. Back door again BORING!!
So you are the dumper. Hard luck on you.
hey irish, i hope he is playing or this will be a very boaring sat night!
Stu, honestly it’d be nice to see Limerick flipping win something in the new millennium.
We are in the football final but we aren’t going to beat Cork so hurling was our best chance but they’re useless so all equal now anyway.
the spanish cant rest all of their top players tonight cause if they get beat the record isnt theirs!
at what time does the match start?
Kenny – hope so although Spain may put out a weaken side cos they are through already
7:30 Cartman
yeah irish but if they get beat then they dont get this record they have been going for… plus RSA are on home turf and can be a good team when they want to be. Cesc missed the last game so he shud be rested
thnx, i have time! btw the barca boys have a dominating presence in the spanish squad
any u-21 england match?
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIrish!
oh fuck here we go
I’ve looked around the internet and can’t find a team sheet and its not on Irish tv till 9:20 cos there is a match on in Ireland that they are showing
Pedro, I agree with most of what you say although I feel rather than a stereotypical DM what Arsenal need is superior end product. The midfield battle is as much about energetic pressing when off the ball with a defence that is trusted and stable. My sneaky suspicion is that Touré may have been the weak link in that he, like Adebayor seems to have that heavy, downhearted demeanour which seems to spread a negative force throughout the team. And I can’t shake the feeling that his commitment to the cause has slightly wavered somewhat over time. That is of course just my opinion. But I am sure that with the necessary reinforcements to replace the aforementioned we’ll be good to go. We have the midfielders to harass and pressurise opposition into mistakes. Admittedly, with a strong and committed player with the right amount of experience and acumen we would be pretty devastating (a’ la Vieira of yesteryear). However, I don’t see that as essential provided the team unity is right. Rather, let’s get someone who knows how to hold the line up front freeing up the likes of RVP, Arsh, Nasri and Fab to terrorise defences. Whilst also maintaining a young and energetic midfield that are clearly improving. Supported by an organised defence with complimentary CB’s. I must confess I have not watched Vermaelen but I have a sneaky suspicion he has the attribute that CB’s of the highest calibre need most of all and that is great reading of the game. Admittedly if he can hold his own in the aerial battles that the premier league will inevitably pose then I think we have the makings of a real solid base. Gallas for me has deserved a lot of stick during most of his time at Arsenal. But his reaction to losing the captaincy really impressed me hugely. Not only did he carry himself with dignity through that period but his performances thereafter have been the best of his Arsenal career for me. Although I feel if Senderos and Touré both depart we need another strong CB (perhaps an up and coming player such as Micah if realistic). Letting Gallas go would be I huge mistake but Touré’s could breathe new life. Let’s not forget too that both Ade and Touré have personality clashes with players who appear more committed in their respected positions. We need unity more than ever in this team and not division. The fans (the plastic one’s at least) have not supported the team appropriately of late. So good dressing room spirit and a willingness to fight for each other would be good characteristics to reinforce. Also, I just think possibly that Touré and Ade have gone as far as they can with this great football club. I really feel that with a good summer in the gym we have the makings of a really special player in Denilson and Song isn’t progressing badly either. We are not as far away as most think, we just need to harness a winning mentality and then I can see us really kicking on.
MmmmmmmmmmmP How you doin?
togo is playing and no Ade, not even on the bench
ok i’m off! have a nice evening
!
unlucky irish lol i wont comment and ruin the game for u then. And on that note i dont fancy spending half the night watching Mmmmmmmmmmp sleezing on you so im off for a bit!
Pat – The Togo coach told Adebayor to get lost in no uncertain terms cos Adebayor kept telling what to do.
Pat, ADe had yet another fall out with the Togo coach and he has been thrown out the team!
See ya Cartman
Verm and Billy boy should be our first choice CB pairing.
Back up? Song and Senderos. Hear me out….
Song is probably our most improved player this year and looks very suited to the CB role – a lot more than the DM role. He deserves a shot at it this season.
Swiss Tony? Has everyone forgotten that he was, literally, the heart of our CL record of 10 games without conceding? Torres and Drogba have shown him where he needs to improve, and working alongside Maldini and Co is sure to improve his all-round game.
Djourou and Kolo need to go – i love em both but not up to it anymore. JD is always injured (nothing wrong with consistency
) and Kolo has lost a lot of his ‘spark’ – he seems almost lost at times.
oh shit i better hang around til i find out the spanish team
http://goonertalk.com/2009/06/20/kolo-toure-not-pictured-in-manchester/
One has to wonder are some people that run Arsenal blogs actually Arsenal fans. Why would someone want Kolo to go to Citeh?
Fabregas starts
woo hoo irish you better not be winding me up! lol.. what sort of team???
Spain: Reina, Albiol, Pique, Puyol, Villa, Torres, Fabregas, Busquets, Riera, Arbeloa.
South Africa: Khune, Gaxa, Masilela, Mokoena, Mhlongo, Sibaya, Pienaar, Modise, Dikgacoi, Booth, Parker
Irish, which blog was it?
I’m logging off now cos I want to watch the delayed coverage and don’t want to know what is happening.
Laters
Chozzer – Arsenalspot
Looking forward to watching the game now…..smashing.
Irish, thats only 10 players for spain.
holy shit that is a strong team.
Chozzer, where are you watching it?
Xavi is the missing player stu
Thanks Kenny,
Who is playing left back? Arbeloa or Puyol?
So it is Stu – blame goal.com
bbc have it as Puyol
Some website called Arsenal Spot Chozzer… it’s a pile of shite… the guy running it posts about a million articles a day in some vain attempt to become a top website.
I saw the story come up yesterday and I couldn’t even be bothered to click it…
Right I’m off this time – enjoy the game and hope Cesc has a good game.
Laters Cesc…
Irishgunner… I mean!
Freudian slip, Pedro?
Pedro, read your email or even your text messages.
lol pedro. Fair freudien slip there like!
What does Irish look like in full Arsenal kit?
Just BBC3, Stu. Only at home… nowhere exciting.
haha, I know!
Irish doesn’t look like Cesc in an Arsenal kit!
Geoff, I’ve just sent two e-mails your way!
Thanks!
cesc has had his haircut short again.. no yellow mowhawk anymore
Narcassius – love the name – I enjoyed your ‘observations’ and I actually do agree, you make a very convincing ‘case’ and we shall see what the pre-season training brings in the way of players; I would like to see Gallas stay, he was sorely missed in the last games. Toure is Mr Arsenal, alas he is no longer the palyer he was(I have for a long time put claim to him being my ‘husband’ (my love for the boy and his salute before very game))so maybe it’s time for him to try ‘pastures new’ with OUR blessing (for all his hard work over the years). I always thought him being better suited as a midfielder (he does love going forward and I for one so enjoy the way opposing players are totally confused/scared when he does)and as we seem to have them in abundance is it fair to him to let him have a chance at another club?, I think so.
thats a mean haircut cesc has got.
Soz, that was a right smelly blogfart.
Wouldn’t it be great if Cesc was blogging on here.
What would you ask him?
I’d ask him if he preferred playing football for Arsenal or for Spain.
wait a minute.. i think cesc has a big mowhawk!
or maybe not.. its hard to tell
id ask him who his pals in the arsenal team are. And id ask him who his starting 11 wud be when everyone is fit.
Puyol RB Arbeloa LB
God I hate it when your refresh button doesn’t seem to work for 10 minutes. Makes you look a right prat.
well i suppose toure or someone will be leaving us shortly ?!
i mean to balance the books and all that ..
, so hurry up arsene i expect an ‘ out’ happening sometime this week !
i mean that 10 mil must be burning a hole in the daily interest of the club .. i cant see the visa has a limit of any more than 30 days without interest
i think we will get at least 10 for toure …
dont start making me sound ruthless either for wanting to sell cesc for 50 mil !
.. wenger in all probability will sell toure
( a long serving member of our squad) and no one here really cares ..
yet some of you after seeing a season and a half of continual shit you still want to keep ade !
all foam no beer !
Piquenbauer and Albiol are some nicely gifted defenders. Cant believe the mancs actually let Pique go. Pft…idiots!
Rossi looks ok, too.
OMG how did Villa miss that he’s shit he’s a cunt he’s crap!!! blah blah blah
I was just about to say Villa is useless and then he goes and does that.
Seeing as RSA havent qualified for next seasons ACN then im assuming all the qualification has been done. Thus my question is who else has/has not qualified. Togo? Ivory coast? Cameroon? Surely they have all qualified but if they havent then i suppose its good news for us.
Im sure everyone has already seen this before but its just so amazing how anyone can appear so thick. Enjoy…again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C0i9SZqMgc
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/africa/standings/index.html
From Gonnerholic. Real review on Vermaelen.
I called a mate I have worked with in Amsterdam for his take. I trust his judgement having spent time at Arsenal with him. He tells me that Vermaelen is (or rather was!) the best defender in Holland. His strengths are his distribution, and yes, his aerial ability. The fact that he was captain of a side of the stature of Ajax at just 23 tells us a great deal about his leadership qualities. He is more comfortable on the left side of the central pairing, which suggests he could be arriving as a replacement for William Gallas. As viewers of YouTube will be aware he is also more than capable of popping up with a goal or two from crosses and set pieces.
The only cautionary note is that he feels Vermaelen is not yet the finished article. Like all young defenders he still learns lessons the hard way occasionally. I asked if he thought there were similarities in that respect with Senderos, given the potential for the Swiss stopper to return this summer. ‘Most definitely not’, was the response. ‘He is more consistent than Phil and is not likely to suffer the same bullying by big centre-forwards. Technically he is at a level above Senderos.’
I believe we need to buy Ibrahim Afellay, Melo and Richards (swap deal with Toure).
If city offer 12M+Richards for Toure we could spend that 12M on Melo. Offer them Senderos as well as the money. We will then have solved our defensive problems!!
Ibrahim Afellay is a 23yr old (6ft1) pacey winger. Scored 11 in 16 appearances this season for PSV and could be brilliant for us(A replacement for Eboue: Sell him for 6M buy Affellay).
This would be a big boost getting rid of 2 African players seeing the ACN is on this year. We would also be replacing them with youngsters which would grow into a lot better players.
Feck, there’s a Belgian band called Arsenal.
http://www.arsenal-music.com/
I hate to dampen the speculation folks but Arsene aint going to buy a DM. If he did he will stunt the growth of Denilson, song ,Diaby, Ramsey etc.
I think he will get a replacement for ade if he is sold and maybe a defender if one is sold.
These will be the only movements in my opinion.
I fucking hope not Mike,
A DM is an absolute must this summer. Forget stunting growth, it should be about being quality enough to warrant a starting role at Arsenal and despite both Denilson and Song in particular improving, neither are going to make up that 18 point difference to Man Ure.
And I know that Eduardo and Rosicky will be like new signings but we are now just covered there (Good Depth) and they still dont solve the lack of a spine in CM.
I agree patthegooner a Melo type is vital. Arsene is however convinced that he already has players who can step up to the mantle.I think he feels if he buys a dm he is admitting his judgement was wrong.
To be fair Song has shown significant improvement and if he continues to improve he may be the answer.
However is this a risk worth taking?
Basically if Wenger does not buy a DM we will not win ANYTHING once AGAIN. Our midfield gets pushed around all the time. A player like Melo or Cana would stop all that and let the attacking players get on with their jobs of scoring goals.
I think Song might be used in rotation for CB as he was played there at the end of the season and did very well. Denilson could also learn from the “new DM” and turn into a lot better player for the future.
And with Fabregas coming out and saying we need a “hardman” in the DM position I really don’t see how Wenger could not buy one.
In wenger we trust…
Fack stunting a players growth. IF Wenger buys a quality DM, which he should, then we should sell Diaby because he is only still here to make up the numbers and such.
So if we buy a DM then they will only be ahead of….noone really.
Wenger said Song is a defender long term. Denilson should be Fabregas’ replacement imo, Ramsey is an attacking midfielder. Moreso than both Denilson and Cesc. So really we have no actual DM. Just central midfielders who play the defensive role.
Nice weather for the time of year.
Geoff to give you credit, upon reading today’s post I thought it was yours but that’s between you and Pedro to sort out between yourselves!
Anyway, it is a good read as always and credit to Le Grove!
i cant believe you all think we are going to get a DM !
nasri has already put his hand up and that has been since the end of the season .. not another game has been played since ..
so unless Arsenal . com are talking a lot of shit
we wont be getting a DM ..
not unless wenger has had 2nd thoughts about using narsi as the DM ! ….
and i find that very fucking hard to believe
as it was released on A.com the day villa sold barry …
which sort of means to me is , we are not interested in a DM , we will use nasri , like we did in the last few games of the season …
and very few players would fit the position anyhow . not without paying an arm and a leg for .. i think wenger would rather create / transform a player into the the role ..
he was stupid for not making flamini to re-sign .
but that is another story all together …
i think had flamini stayed so would have hleb .