Thomas Vermaelen - Our Captain

Hasn't been good this season. But I've noticed he's in terrible form particularly at the moment.

No longer is he fit enough to be named "The Verminator" as well. I'd stick with Koscielny and Mertesacker as our best pairing. You might argue that Koscielny hasn't been great too, but he did have too many injuries and was in and out of the squad very frequently. With time, he'll find form. That piece of "defending" Vermaelen did for Milner's goal against us was unacceptable.

funnily enough this thread comes off the back of his best performance of the season against Swansea with two great blocks (albeit he had pretty much nothing else to do the rest of the game).

But I agree that he has lost an edge this season. Having said that (and I mentioned it before), his goal scoring exploits masked a lot of his weaknesses the previous two seasons. Per and Kos imo are both better defenders but don't exhibit the same sort of hunger or fight that TV has. The lack of a proper DM hasnt helped him (well whoever our CBs are) either

Agreed it has come off the back of a good performance...

Looking at it in a different way maybe the captaincy has hindered him this season...and its been a big coincidence if anything that his performances have lacked since taking it..
I thought goals or not he had a decent season as of last..but team stability comes into play as well..constantly changing with who he plays with will also affect his game...sagna has not been at his best for some time now..and even Gibbs at times seams to be struggling...the calamities that kos has had as well as himself will all have some affect..
I have no doubt once if when we see the team getting into a grove that his game will pick up....and if we can get all our defenders back to the best we will see more of what we had come used to with the verm...

Also not having that all elusive defensive mid infront of him will come at a price and its also maybe another big coincidence that diaby came back into that slot and verm had a good game...maybe,maybe not...will shall see come the next game..diaby will be fit and no doubt play against Chelsea...will verm have a good game...I personally say yes..

Funnily I never see Diaby as a defensive midfielder. His best performances come when he has someone more defensive than him in the team like Song in 2010 (before becoming Songinho) or Arteta vs Liverpool.

Vanig Bostanian wrote:Funnily I never see Diaby as a defensive midfielder. His best performances come when he has someone more defensive than him in the team like Song in 2010 (before becoming Songinho) or Arteta vs Liverpool.

Yer I see where your coming from...I guess its more a case of knowing its having a player of that roll available infront of verm...

Vermalean was never the most astute defender in our line up. What endeared him to fans was the fight he showed on the field along with his goal scoring abilities. I see no link between the captaincy and his declining performances, it was coming all along regardless of the armband.

I think TV has been getting better as the season has gone on... he had some rough games but he's been getting back to his best lately IMO

Chris Chan wrote:funnily enough this thread comes off the back of his best performance of the season against Swansea with two great blocks (albeit he had pretty much nothing else to do the rest of the game).

But I agree that he has lost an edge this season. Having said that (and I mentioned it before), his goal scoring exploits masked a lot of his weaknesses the previous two seasons. Per and Kos imo are both better defenders but don't exhibit the same sort of hunger or fight that TV has. The lack of a proper DM hasnt helped him (well whoever our CBs are) either

Agree completely, but Vermaelen is getting back to his best. Per on the other hand has been having a nightmare. Needs to get his act together.

According to Geoff Arsenal, Wenger has lost patience with the same mistakes over and over again this season and is looking for a CB.

CB??? why not give them some fucking protection and sign a bloody DM. Mistakes will get cut down because they have some protection.

I really hope we sign someone like M'Vila, Capoue, or Diame. Sure, our defending has been poor this season, but I agree with you, Chris. A new DM should be a priority.

Diame is an interesting one, on the face of it id say not good enough but, he has been impressive this season, offers things to the midfield that we just dont have at the moment and is a good price. Where the hell would everyone else play though? Way too many other midfielders to keep happy.

You have to remember technically a DM doesnt need to be the best, just be able to pass it 10 yards to the nearest midfielder, but what he has to be able to do is break up play. Not pretty and not technical but massively important. He doesn't have to be the best 'footballer' to be effective

Which is why I'm hoping Wenger scraps the 4-3-3 formation. Play a 4-4-2 instead, Giroud/hopefully a new striker and Theo up top, Cazorla and Jack at LM and RM respectively, and then Diaby/new DM and Arteta playing CM. Back four remains the same of course. Cazorla and Jack of course have a bit of license to roam, that seemed to work well on Wednesday.

Chris Chan wrote:funnily enough this thread comes off the back of his best performance of the season against Swansea with two great blocks (albeit he had pretty much nothing else to do the rest of the game).

But I agree that he has lost an edge this season. Having said that (and I mentioned it before), his goal scoring exploits masked a lot of his weaknesses the previous two seasons. Per and Kos imo are both better defenders but don't exhibit the same sort of hunger or fight that TV has. The lack of a proper DM hasnt helped him (well whoever our CBs are) either

Look at the first few highlights from the Swansea game - Swansea Highlights on Youtube - For the Swansea header onto the cross bar, he is on the back foot, can't get near the ball, can't even challenge the guy. This is not like Vermaelen from his first season. Then for his chance from the corner, scuffs it, where as first season would have smashed it in.

Can't draw conclusions from 2 highlights, but it is very common for him this season. Lacking confidence and currently has no form.

Meh, there were obvious weaknesses in his play in his first season too - he hardly came with a brilliant CB's CV, it's just that Wenger liked him.

There have been some lows, but no sustained highs where we though that we can rely on him week in week out to be very solid, not make any stupid decisions or stupid mistakes.

made a couple of crucial interceptions yesterday, might have made some mistakes as well, but he had a decent match imo. He generally seems to have improved as the season has progressed, getting some of that confidence back perhaps, which he lost due to being out of the game for so long.

I agree that he had a somewhat better game.

But when I look at a defender, to see whether he is performing well, I want to see:
- covering the man they are marking
- watching and anticipating the play
- covering your team mates
- making sure passes
- directing play

While he is getting in crucial blocks, I don't think he is doing enough of the above.

Thought he had another good game last night even though he picked up a knock. Hopefully some form/confidence is coming back to him and the knock won't keep him out too long.

Still, be interesting to see how Merscielny get on as a duo.

Probably could have put some trousers on but he is obviously proud to wear the armband in TV and Arteta's absence. I like how all three (TV, Arteta and Jack) are different types of leaders with different styles.

http://www.fanatix.com/news/image-jack-wilshere-arsenal-captain/105913/

I wonder why he didn't take a penalty. Particularly with such young players having to take them.

Otherwise, not a bad performance from what I saw/heard.

Jonathan Prendergast wrote:I wonder why he didn't take a penalty. Particularly with such young players having to take them.

Otherwise, not a bad performance from what I saw/heard.

Maybe taking tiny steps? Was an ok performance would have been a nightmare if he had missed a penalty and would have drawn massive attention which is exactly what he doesn't need.

Played well today I think. Most importantly, didn't fuck up.

We need such players to be able to come in and perform if we are to challenge this season.