The Importance of Being Vermaelen

The 1st October 1996 was a great day for the Premier League and the development of the English Game, with Arsenal officially appointed Arsene Wenger as their new manager. Although he has not matched Sir Alex Ferguson’s ability to win titles, no one can deny the impact Wenger has had on the development and marketability of the English Premier League. Within 2 years of taking the realms at Highbury, Wenger had turned an aging, underachieving Arsenal team into a formidable ‘Double’ winner, the first time Arsenal had achieved this feat in 27 years.

While the personnel of Arsenal have changed drastically over the 14 years, there is a familiar trend as to how Wenger and Arsenal work. The playmaking attacking midfielder has become a trademark of Arsenal after the introduction of Dennis Bergkamp, arguably the greatest foreign signing in the Premier League’s history  alongside Eric Cantona, Thierry Henry and Cristiano Ronaldo. Nowadays we see the likes of Cesc Fabregas, Samri Nasri and Andrey Arshavin tormenting opposing defenders with ease and grace. Compound this with a series of commanding defensive midfielders such as Patrick Viera, Emmanuelle Petit and to a certain extent Alex Song and the strike force of Thierry Henry, Emmanuelle Adebayor and Robin Van Pierse, you would think Arsenal should be constant serious challengers for the title. However over the past 5 years, Arsenal has been the perennial 3rd placers and this comes down to the inability of Wenger to find a commanding centre back... until now.

Success during Arsene Wenger’s reign has been based upon a commanding centre back leading the team and providing stability and confidence. At their best, Arsenal had the likes of Tony Adams, Sol Campbell and Kolo Toure leading the defensive line. After the former two moved on, and bearing in mind the decline of the latter, Arsenal has been without leadership at the back. All this has changed since the signing of Thomas Vermaelen in 2009. When Vermaelen plays, Arsenal become the team of old which dominated the Premier League. His reliability, ability to track the opponent and his aerial ability contributed to the good run of form during the 2009/10 season and his importance on the team was highlighted with the consecutive awarding of Arsenal’s ‘Player of the Month’ and the fan given nickname ‘Verminator’.

The loss of Vermaelen during the end of the 09/10 and the start of the current season to injury have once again shown the frailties of the Arsenal team; wonderful when going forward, but shockingly mediocre at the back. Saturday’s second half capitulation to arch rivals Tottenham highlighted the impact Vermaelen has on  the Arsenal team, one can only wonder what heights this current Arsenal team can reach with a fit Thomas  Vermaelen at the heart of the defence.

Lewis Richards is an Arsenal and Crystal Palace fan who is not particularly commanding in defence.