Gunnerblog

Vermaelen signs on as Arsenal head to the Velodrome

726 comments October 19th, 2011

On the eve of their tie with Marseille, Arsenal announced some fantastic news: Thomas Vermaelen has signed a long-term deal with the club.  Perhaps mindful of the debt he owes the club after missing the best part of a year with an assortment of injuries, he has become the first of a group of players involved in negotiations – Song, Walcott, Van Persie, Arshavin – to actually put pen to paper.

Vermaelen said:

“I am really happy to have signed a new contract with Arsenal. I always had the intention to stay here. I feel there is a big belief in me from the Club, from the boss and from the fans and that is one of the reasons why I stayed. Arsenal is a fantastic Club. We have great supporters, we’re doing well financially and we are playing with some quality young players now and they will develop, which is very good for the future.”

The vice-captain signing on will hopefully encourage some of the others to do the same, though Van Persie’s age and status mean he will want to delay any decision as long as possible.

Arsene Wenger, meanwhile, called Vermaelen a “special player” and insists the defensive side of our squad is in healthier shape than ever before:

“For me, we have a strong central defence now. Mertesacker is an outstanding player, Koscielny will be an outstanding player – he is slowly getting there – and there is Djourou, Squillaci and Vermaelen.

So this is good news for us. It closes speculation about centre back positions, we have four or five now and that should be enough.”

I can’t be alone in being eager to get Vermaelen back and alongside Per Mertesacker.  They seem to me to be a natural partnership, and one that could provide us with a solid base for years to come.  Assuming, that is, that they stay fit…

From what I understand Vermaelen has a chance of being fit in time for our game at Stamford Bridge next weekend.  Tonight, it will be Laurent Koscielny who continues alongside the big German.  Arsene has said no players will be rested tonight, so the rest of the team picks itself.  Carl Jenkinson will continue at right-back, whilst Andre Santos will come in for the injured Kieran Gibbs.  Santos made a good impact as a substitute on Sunday, so I’m not worried about bringing him in to the team.

The central trio of Song, Arteta and Ramsey should be restored with the Welshman available once again.  Ahead of that, their could be a little rotation.  Van Persie will play through the middle, but it’s possible Andrey Arshavin or Tomas Rosicky could be deployed in one of the wide roles ahead of Gervinho or Walcott.  There’s been a fair bit of talk in the French press about how Gervinho has not yet looked the player he did at Lille; hopefully returning to French soil will encourage him to accelerate his adaptation.

Marseille have had a similarly slow start to their season as us, but they’ve got some exciting players – including playmaker Lucho Gonzalez, who was the subject of a bid from Arsenal shortly before the transfer deadline.  Our group seems to be taking shape with three major players – ourselves, Marseille and Dortmund – so the outcome of tonight’s game will be crucial in determining final league positions.

You can read more of my thoughts on the Marseille game over on Arsenal.com.  Oooooh, get me.

Right, better get back to work. Come On You Gunners.

RVP contract story is something we’ll have to get used to

43 comments September 26th, 2011

You might think a 3-0 win and a century of Robin van Persie goals would be enough to earn Arsenal some positive headlines this Monday morning.  If you did, you’d be wrong.  And very very naive.  Arsenal are a side “in crisis”, and so tradition dictates that even a positive result will be spun in the most unfavourable manner possible.

The Sun joins the fun

In this instance, the chosen stick to beat us with is that of Robin van Persie’s contractual situation.  As you’ll all know by now, he has less than two years to run on his existing deal, and is hardly in a rush to discuss a new one:

“I still have almost two years left, so for the moment that’s fine. I’m happy with my contract. I can’t look into the future. I can’t see us talking now because we are so busy.”

And who can blame him?  This is an Arsenal side beginning yet another period of transition.  Van Persie held a meeting with Arsene Wenger this summer in which he asked for reassurances about investment in the squad following the sales of Fabregas and Nasri.  That process has begun, and he’ll want to see if and how it continues in January.  More importantly, he’ll want to know if he has a chance of playing Champions League football next season.

RVP’s next contract is likely to be the last major deal of his career.  With the early part of his development so stunted by injuries, it could cover the period in which stands as the peak of his powers.  He’ll want to make sure he gives himself a chance of winning the trophies befitting of his talent before it’s too late – ideally at Arsenal, but potentially elsewhere.

I sympathise with his position.  It’s not like Samir Nasri, who left aged 24 and yet to achieve his full potential at Arsenal. Van Persie has given good service, and 100 goals in to the bargain.  If he goes, it will be with a heavy heart.  It’s up to the club and the manager to give one of the remaining jewels in our crown a reason to stay.

I don’t expect any major negotiations to take place until after Christmas, and there may not be a decision until next summer.  There were some stories circulating that City could come in for RVP in January, but those are most likely the work of RVP’s representative Darren Dein, who will be doing his utmost to stir the proverbial pot and make sure wherever RVP signs his new deal, it’s more as much cash as is humanly possible.

There’s plenty of other, less disconcerting stuff to read about Van Persie today.  In this piece Arsene compares his positional play to that of Messi, whilst here RVP talks through some of his favourite goals.

Finally, a nod to arseblogger, who turns 40 today.  On the day of his birth, back in 1971, Maltese outfit Sliema Wanderers beat Icelandic side IA Akranes by four goals to nil in the UEFA European Cup first round first leg.  In every sense, a momentous day for football.