The speed and the extent of the swing in Arsenal's season was encapsulated in the song with which the travelling hordes toasted victory at Goodison Park. "Ten points and you messed it up" – or a word to that effect – they chanted. Arsène Wenger has steered the campaign away from chaos, Old Trafford poundings and talk of a seismic managerial change over several months and now there is cherished proof of progress in the Premier League – a perch above Tottenham Hotspur.
Less than four weeks ago, five minutes before half-time in the north London derby at the Emirates to be exact, Arsenal were staring at a 13-point gap between themselves and their local rivals. Now they are one point clear, in the final automatic qualifying place for the Champions League and, as a hard-fought defeat of Everton confirmed, able to lace defensive resilience with their trademark panache in the pursuit of third place.
"I was always optimistic," the Arsenal manager said, "because if you look at our results since October we've had only one bad spell when we lost three on the trot because we had no full-backs. But the attitude of the team was always good.
"We needed to be strong and we need that until the end of the season. We know what suffering means. In some press conferences I've been asked if we could go down. It shows that things change quickly in this league and that's why it's vital for us to keep our focus."
Fittingly, it was an Arsenal defender who secured victory on a night when the visiting back line outshone even Robin van Persie in what opened as a stroll against Everton but finished in a fight to preserve the Gunners' favourite scoreline. Thomas Vermaelen reprised the role of unlikely match-winner to follow his late goal against Newcastle United with the early and only breakthrough at Everton. His flicked header from Van Persie's corner ensured Arsenal recorded a sixth successive league win and succeeded where Manchester City, Chelsea and Spurs have all failed in recent weeks by taking three points from Goodison.
Wenger said: "In the last month we have taken six points in Liverpool from two intense fights and we want to keep that going. We cannot think the most difficult part is done.
"The most difficult part is to do and it is important we keep our humility, our focus and fight for each other like we did tonight. We were resilient, focused and had a great desire to defend.
"I felt it was psychological in that we refused to play a bit towards the end and just wanted to keep the score. Credit to Everton for that because they responded very well. You've seen a side of us that usually people don't know but it was the only way to get a result tonight."
Arsenal were quickly into their stride against a tired and laboured Everton team giving credence to the argument that momentum went from their season when David Moyes made six changes for the comprehensive Merseyside derby defeat at Anfield. From 30 minutes onwards, however, the home side countered that theory impressively.
Vermaelen's eighth-minute goal, when he escaped his international team-mate Marouane Fellaini to glance a header beyond Tim Howard, had been a long time coming. Aaron Ramsey had squandered one glorious opening and had a second blocked by the flying frame of Tony Hibbert.
The visitors' confidence and control in the early stages was epitomised by the sight of Vermaelen playing a one-two with fellow defender Kieran Gibbs on the edge of the area before his shot was deflected wide. Van Persie also went close and Everton were fortunate to trail by only one by the time they began to stem the flow from Mikel Arteta and Alex Song in central midfield and to belatedly show some energy down the flanks.
For all of Arsenal's dominance, Everton should have been level from their first meaningful attack when Royston Drenthe converted following a flowing move but was wrongly given offside by the assistant referee John Flynn. It was the first of several erroneous offside calls by Flynn, including one against Van Persie when he volleyed Gibbs's knock-down against a post late on.
"Five [offside calls by Flynn] were onside. I've checked," said Moyes. "We've had a few poor decisions go against us recently and this one cost us."
Source: Andy Hunter, The Guardian on 21 Mar 12
Showing posts with label Thomas Vermaelen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thomas Vermaelen. Show all posts
Friday, March 23, 2012
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Keown: Vermaelen as important as RVP
What was once the solid foundation on which their success was built, Arsenal's defence has lately more closely resembled the work of a cowboy builder than a master mason. The days of the legendary back four of Lee Dixon, Tony Adams, Martin Keown and Nigel Winterburn - the bedrock of the Gunners' 1998 double triumph - are long gone, replaced by the palest of imitations. The backline responsible for shipping eight to Manchester United earlier this season - Carl Jenkinson, Johann Djourou, Laurent Koscielny and Armand Traore - was an embarrassment to a club boasting such exemplary defensive traditions.
Injuries to key players obviously played a part in the Old Trafford massacre but there is no denying that the area of the pitch once considered Arsenal's greatest strength has become their most frustrating weakness. Although all managers are liable to make signings that fail to settle as expected, the list of Arsene Wenger's defensive additions makes for pretty grim reading; from Igors Stepanovs to Sebastien Squillaci, via the likes of Efstathios Tavlaridis, Pascal Cygan and Mikael Silvestre, Arsenal's defensive recruits have, on the whole, been more inadequate than impenetrable.
The aforementioned names may seem to prove otherwise, but a propensity for calamity has not in fact been a pre-requisite of playing at the back for the Gunners in recent years. The likes of Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure and William Gallas have all proved to be shrewd acquisitions over the past decade while Thomas Vermaelen, the man currently charged with halting Arsenal's opponents, has consistently shown the sort of assuredness that could one day see him mentioned in the same breath as Messrs Dixon, Adams, Keown and Winterburn, as well as other former stalwarts like Frank McLintock, David O'Leary and Pat Rice, in the Gunners' defensive pantheon.
Since arriving from Ajax two years ago, Vermaelen has become a firm fans' favourite at Emirates Stadium, with his aerial prowess and physicality endearing him to a set of supporters and a manager whose team has often been accused of being bereft of those qualities in recent times.
One of those supporters is former centre-back Martin Keown. As a boyhood Arsenal fan, a three-time winner of both the FA Cup and Premier League and a veteran of 17 years at the club as a youth-team player and first-teamer, the former England defender certainly has the authority to scrutinise the Gunners' defence. And while prolific captain Robin van Persie has been stealing the spotlight as Wenger's side have enjoyed a renaissance over the past few weeks, Keown is convinced that the return to fitness of Vermaelen has been just as crucial.
"It was a difficult start, but they've shown a lot of character since losing at Manchester United," Keown tells ESPNsoccernet. "There are key players back in the team - Thomas Vermaelen especially. Vermaelen is absolutely key to what they do. He satisfies the needs of the manager because of his technical side, his passing his crisp and it's almost perfection the way he passes the ball.
"But he satisfies me, and other supporters too, because of his physical side - that's what I want to see. I feel he dominates people, he attacks the ball, he organises and I just feel much more comfortable when he's playing. For me, he's equally as important as Van Persie now that he's back in the team and playing well."
Keown's assertion about Vermaelen's importance is certainly supported by the statistics; since the Belgian arrived at the club two years ago, Arsenal have won 61% of games with him in the starting line-up compared to 52% without, while in the current campaign the Gunners have conceded an average of 0.7 goals per games when Vermaelen has been present compared to 1.77 without and have also kept clean sheets in 40% of the games he has started, compared to 23% without.
The centre-half has appeared back to his imperious best this term and his latest contribution was another telling one, scoring a vital equaliser against Fulham after his own goal had put Wenger's side on the brink of a shock home defeat. His return to the first-team action has been a real boost, especially after he missed almost the entirety of last season with a serious Achilles injury that led some to proffer concern that his career could be curtailed.
Vermaelen's role as senior defender is one that allows parallels to be drawn with Keown who, as Wenger's elder defensive statesman played a vital role in helping future 'Invincibles' Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Lauren and Kolo Toure, acclimatise to life in the Arsenal first-team. Vermaelen, too, is responsible for being the reliable constant in an ever-changing defence, one that Keown recognises isn't perfect but that he feels has the potential to come good.
"I've been pleased with the new signings," says Keown, whose articulate responses are a world away from the aggressive, spiky persona he exuded on the pitch in his playing days. "I think Arteta has been a very good character to have in, they need someone with his leadership and that experience. Mertesacker as well, whether he plays in the team or not, is bringing experience to the back four, which is invaluable. Andre Santos is a roaming left-back, I'd like to see him defend more but he's in the typical mould of a left-back for Arsenal - Wenger likes them to get forward.
"Lately, Koscielny has been playing right-back, with Mertesacker alongside Vermaelen in the middle - I think Mertesacker still has a lot to offer, whether he's No. 1 or not remains to be seen. I think the other two are maybe the future. They've all played their part but while they're doing okay at the moment, we don't want them to be complacent though. As soon as Arsenal seem to get pats on the back, the form dips - if you go by recent years. There's a lot of work to do but they're going in the right direction.
"If you look at the side that beat Barcelona 2-1 at home last season, there's Wilshere not playing because of injury, Nasri gone, Fabregas gone - they were all were instrumental. The heart of the team was ripped out and they were the players that gave Wenger real belief so you have to give him time to rebuild his own belief in the team, get the key characters back in and start to develop it -and they're doing that."
When it comes to the future, Keown is forthright that Wenger is the man to continue to lead Arsenal and having experienced the Frenchman first hand - enjoying a reinvigoration under him - he has no doubt that when the 62-year-old eventually decides to call time on his spell in North London, it will be on his terms.
"He will decide when he leaves, that's how powerful he is at the club. He decides not anyone else; he'll know when the moment's right. He creates an environment where it's just great fun. It's great to come in every day. You learn a great deal. When he first came in, we were working with mannequins, doing technical stuff that we'd never done before. It really improved me, he's great to be around as well. I wasn't sure if nice guys can win things - we'd all been a bit of an angry bunch before Wenger arrived but he demonstrated that you can still get along with everyone, you can still have a smile on your face and win and when you do that it's more enjoyable and tastes better.
"He and [former Arsenal boss] George Graham were like chalk and cheese, George was quite confrontational, to say the least. There's nothing wrong with that but some of us respond to different styles of management and the approach that Wenger had, my record was much better under Wenger, I preferred that. I don't think anyone enjoys getting a rollicking in any industry. I just needed to unravel my talent and Wenger helped me to do that.
Source: Mark Lomas, ESPN Soccernet on 30 Nov 11
Injuries to key players obviously played a part in the Old Trafford massacre but there is no denying that the area of the pitch once considered Arsenal's greatest strength has become their most frustrating weakness. Although all managers are liable to make signings that fail to settle as expected, the list of Arsene Wenger's defensive additions makes for pretty grim reading; from Igors Stepanovs to Sebastien Squillaci, via the likes of Efstathios Tavlaridis, Pascal Cygan and Mikael Silvestre, Arsenal's defensive recruits have, on the whole, been more inadequate than impenetrable.
The aforementioned names may seem to prove otherwise, but a propensity for calamity has not in fact been a pre-requisite of playing at the back for the Gunners in recent years. The likes of Sol Campbell, Kolo Toure and William Gallas have all proved to be shrewd acquisitions over the past decade while Thomas Vermaelen, the man currently charged with halting Arsenal's opponents, has consistently shown the sort of assuredness that could one day see him mentioned in the same breath as Messrs Dixon, Adams, Keown and Winterburn, as well as other former stalwarts like Frank McLintock, David O'Leary and Pat Rice, in the Gunners' defensive pantheon.
Since arriving from Ajax two years ago, Vermaelen has become a firm fans' favourite at Emirates Stadium, with his aerial prowess and physicality endearing him to a set of supporters and a manager whose team has often been accused of being bereft of those qualities in recent times.
One of those supporters is former centre-back Martin Keown. As a boyhood Arsenal fan, a three-time winner of both the FA Cup and Premier League and a veteran of 17 years at the club as a youth-team player and first-teamer, the former England defender certainly has the authority to scrutinise the Gunners' defence. And while prolific captain Robin van Persie has been stealing the spotlight as Wenger's side have enjoyed a renaissance over the past few weeks, Keown is convinced that the return to fitness of Vermaelen has been just as crucial.
"It was a difficult start, but they've shown a lot of character since losing at Manchester United," Keown tells ESPNsoccernet. "There are key players back in the team - Thomas Vermaelen especially. Vermaelen is absolutely key to what they do. He satisfies the needs of the manager because of his technical side, his passing his crisp and it's almost perfection the way he passes the ball.
"But he satisfies me, and other supporters too, because of his physical side - that's what I want to see. I feel he dominates people, he attacks the ball, he organises and I just feel much more comfortable when he's playing. For me, he's equally as important as Van Persie now that he's back in the team and playing well."
Keown's assertion about Vermaelen's importance is certainly supported by the statistics; since the Belgian arrived at the club two years ago, Arsenal have won 61% of games with him in the starting line-up compared to 52% without, while in the current campaign the Gunners have conceded an average of 0.7 goals per games when Vermaelen has been present compared to 1.77 without and have also kept clean sheets in 40% of the games he has started, compared to 23% without.
The centre-half has appeared back to his imperious best this term and his latest contribution was another telling one, scoring a vital equaliser against Fulham after his own goal had put Wenger's side on the brink of a shock home defeat. His return to the first-team action has been a real boost, especially after he missed almost the entirety of last season with a serious Achilles injury that led some to proffer concern that his career could be curtailed.
Vermaelen's role as senior defender is one that allows parallels to be drawn with Keown who, as Wenger's elder defensive statesman played a vital role in helping future 'Invincibles' Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Lauren and Kolo Toure, acclimatise to life in the Arsenal first-team. Vermaelen, too, is responsible for being the reliable constant in an ever-changing defence, one that Keown recognises isn't perfect but that he feels has the potential to come good.
"I've been pleased with the new signings," says Keown, whose articulate responses are a world away from the aggressive, spiky persona he exuded on the pitch in his playing days. "I think Arteta has been a very good character to have in, they need someone with his leadership and that experience. Mertesacker as well, whether he plays in the team or not, is bringing experience to the back four, which is invaluable. Andre Santos is a roaming left-back, I'd like to see him defend more but he's in the typical mould of a left-back for Arsenal - Wenger likes them to get forward.
"Lately, Koscielny has been playing right-back, with Mertesacker alongside Vermaelen in the middle - I think Mertesacker still has a lot to offer, whether he's No. 1 or not remains to be seen. I think the other two are maybe the future. They've all played their part but while they're doing okay at the moment, we don't want them to be complacent though. As soon as Arsenal seem to get pats on the back, the form dips - if you go by recent years. There's a lot of work to do but they're going in the right direction.
"If you look at the side that beat Barcelona 2-1 at home last season, there's Wilshere not playing because of injury, Nasri gone, Fabregas gone - they were all were instrumental. The heart of the team was ripped out and they were the players that gave Wenger real belief so you have to give him time to rebuild his own belief in the team, get the key characters back in and start to develop it -and they're doing that."
When it comes to the future, Keown is forthright that Wenger is the man to continue to lead Arsenal and having experienced the Frenchman first hand - enjoying a reinvigoration under him - he has no doubt that when the 62-year-old eventually decides to call time on his spell in North London, it will be on his terms.
"He will decide when he leaves, that's how powerful he is at the club. He decides not anyone else; he'll know when the moment's right. He creates an environment where it's just great fun. It's great to come in every day. You learn a great deal. When he first came in, we were working with mannequins, doing technical stuff that we'd never done before. It really improved me, he's great to be around as well. I wasn't sure if nice guys can win things - we'd all been a bit of an angry bunch before Wenger arrived but he demonstrated that you can still get along with everyone, you can still have a smile on your face and win and when you do that it's more enjoyable and tastes better.
"He and [former Arsenal boss] George Graham were like chalk and cheese, George was quite confrontational, to say the least. There's nothing wrong with that but some of us respond to different styles of management and the approach that Wenger had, my record was much better under Wenger, I preferred that. I don't think anyone enjoys getting a rollicking in any industry. I just needed to unravel my talent and Wenger helped me to do that.
Source: Mark Lomas, ESPN Soccernet on 30 Nov 11
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thomas Vermaelen spares Arsenal's blushes against Fulham – and his own
Thomas Vermaelen was particularly dumbstruck. It had been his boot that had inadvertently given Fulham a surprising lead with a hash of an own goal. However, the Belgian defender's determination came to his team's rescue when he burst upfield to equalise eight minutes from full time.
Fulham can take considerable heart from the manner in which they halted Arsenal's recent winning streak. Top marks for organisation, resourcefulness and for picking their moments to counterattack and ensure that this was not an easy home ride. Even in the tense finale, as Arsenal flooded forward in search of a winner and Fulham looked to have run out of steam, Martin Jol's team maintained their resilience to guard their point. It made for a compelling encounter that could have gone any which way until the end.
Fulham retreated with a big sense of satisfaction. "[Arsenal] have been almost unbeatable, but I said to the boys before the game that I thought we could do something today," Jol said. "It's a pleasing point for us."
It would be easy for Arsenal to blame fatigue after their European exploits in the week. Wenger pointedly said that tiredness was an explanation rather than an excuse: "We had not recovered completely from the Champions League game. It happens sometimes. We want to be in the Champions League, so you cannot cry. The challenge is to win when you are tired."
Tired they were, though. Aaron Ramsey's touch was off beam and Robin van Persie was more peripheral than he has been in ages – although there were still a couple of moments for Jol to fear the worst when his compatriot was on the ball. Andrey Arshavin had been given a rare start in place of Gervinho and, although he had no reason to feel weary, his display was fitful. But even if their passing was not at its crispest, Arsenal showed no lack of desire. Evidence? Theo Walcott even did an impersonation of the formidable Gennaro Gattuso as he hunted down and dispossessed Clint Dempsey with a firm tackle.
Ramsey had the most of Arsenal's early chances, taking aim three times in the opening 25 minutes. The Fulham goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer, tipped over the first, and the others went astray.
Fulham were able to build sufficiently to make inroads themselves, with three good first-half opportunities. Bobby Zamora left Vermaelen behind with a smart turn, only to lift his shot over the bar. Then the excellent Moussa Dembélé saw one shot deflected by Vermaelen and another palmed away at the near post by Wojciech Szczesny.
Fulham were entitled to feel pleased with their efforts, and they carried on defending stoutly after the break. The former Arsenal player Philippe Senderos had, according to Jol, injured his groin in training on the eve of the match but was "brave" to play alongside Brede Hangeland. The defenders used all their defensive charms to block and frustrate.
Even when three of the back four were taken out the game by a jink from Van Persie, who then unleashed a fizzing shot that had Schwarzer well beaten, Chris Baird was stationed on the line to get himself in the way. It might have been by hook or crook, but it was effective.
Wouldn't you just know it. While Fulham were busy defending with as much resourcefulness as they could muster, Vermaelen got hold of a Fulham half-chance, after Riise had chested down Danny Murphy's excellent pass, without really getting it under control, and swept the ball past Szczesny into his own net.
"We would have lost this game early in the season," Wenger said, as he paid credit to the character of his team and the names on the team-sheet in particular. Vermaelen's moment of catharsis came when Walcott produced a tantalising cross, and for once the Fulham rearguard appeared to lose concentration as the centre-half appeared, with nobody tracking his run, to knock a downward header past Schwarzer.
Arsenal were by now emboldened by three attacking substitutes – Marouane Chamakh, Abou Diaby and Gervinho – but could not summon a winner.
Source: Amy Lawrence, The Guardian on 26 Nov 11
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Thomas Vermaelen stands tall in making case for Arsenal's defence
Arsenal found solidity at the back in the shape of their injury-free Belgian captain
On a night of no goals and few chances in north London, the solid performance of Thomas Vermaelen represented the best news for Arsenal, particularly since he was called upon to take responsibility for marshalling a defence completed by Carl Jenkinson, Per Mertesacker and André Santos, hardly a line-up to guarantee a night free from alarms and diversions.
Of all the many players whose absences and departures coincided with the team's steady decline over the past two seasons, none has been more sorely missed than the Belgian, who arrived in the summer of 2009 and immediately looked just the man around whom to rebuild a defence that had begun to show signs of falling below acceptable standards.
Then, unhappily for Arsène Wenger, he started to suffer problems with an achilles tendon, restricting him to five appearances in his second season. He was present and correct at the start of this campaign, only for a recurrence to send him back to the sidelines after a handful of appearances. His return against Bolton in the Carling Cup last week and as a late substitute in the tumultuous victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was more than welcome and coincided with his acceptance of a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2015.
Last night he was paired with Per Mertesacker, the man bought from Werder Bremen during the last transfer window in response to the popular demand for a tall centre-back. The German is 6ft 4in while Vermaelen stands a mere 6ft, which has never seemed a handicap to a man whose ability to head the ball puts him in a class with other great centre-backs of relatively restricted stature, such as Daniel Passarella, the captain of Argentina's 1978 world champions, and Paolo Montero of Uruguay.
Sure enough, a Vermaelen header provided one of Arsenal's two decent chances on the night. When Mikel Arteta angled in a free-kick in the first minute of the second half, Mertesacker met the ball with a back-header into the six-yard box, where his partner rose to win a challenge with the excellent Steve Mandanda and glanced his effort inches over. It was as close as Arsenal came to penetrating the Phoenicians' defence until, with 12 minutes left, Robin van Persie raced clear before sending a chip tamely into the gloves of a relieved Mandanda. For Wenger, barring further accidents, the dilemma will be over which of his players to select alongside Vermaelen on a regular basis. While Mertesacker might possess the more obviously complementary characteristics, Laurent Koscielny is the more polished footballer and seemed on the way to creating a useful partnership with the Belgian before the onset of Vermaelen's injury problems.
Marseille tore into the match with the sort of aggressive intent notably lacking from their performance in defeat against the same opponents in the Stade Vélodrome a fortnight ago, promising a stringent test of Vermaelen's match fitness and of Wenger's defence as a whole. Wearing the captain's armband while Van Persie started the evening on the substitutes' bench, Vermaelen did his best to radiate his usual sense of calmness and security in the face of regular assaults mounted by Jordan and André Ayew, Loïc Remy, Mathieu Valbuena and the substitute Morgan Amalfitano on the right wing.
Any wingers facing Arsenal this season and seeing the names of Jenkinson and Santos on the team sheet will fancy their chances of getting something from the contest, thanks to the inexperience of the tall young Anglo-Finn at right-back and the wanderlust of the solidly built Brazilian on the opposite flank. Santos, in particular, will always provide entertainment as he launches himself into injudicious challenges, leaving acres of space to be attacked by opponents when he ventures upfield and seeming to run short of puff when urgently required to regain his defensive station.
As they did against Chelsea at the weekend, however, his attacking incursions tended to overshadow his defensive limitations. "I'm happy when he has the ball," Wenger said afterwards, "and I feel personally that he's much better defensively that many people think. He's an intelligent boy and he's getting better all the time."
The positive approach displayed by Didier Deschamps' team, and their renewed counterattacks in the closing minutes as Arsenal pressed forward in search of a decisive strike, certainly presented the members of the home side's reshuffled back four with a worthwhile test. They may have been surprised in recent days to hear their manager insisting that defence is no longer a priority of the English game, but if defences were largely on top last night, that did not make the match less enjoyable, although it would have been hard to mistake it for a bout between heavyweight contenders.
Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 2 Nov 11
On a night of no goals and few chances in north London, the solid performance of Thomas Vermaelen represented the best news for Arsenal, particularly since he was called upon to take responsibility for marshalling a defence completed by Carl Jenkinson, Per Mertesacker and André Santos, hardly a line-up to guarantee a night free from alarms and diversions.
Of all the many players whose absences and departures coincided with the team's steady decline over the past two seasons, none has been more sorely missed than the Belgian, who arrived in the summer of 2009 and immediately looked just the man around whom to rebuild a defence that had begun to show signs of falling below acceptable standards.
Then, unhappily for Arsène Wenger, he started to suffer problems with an achilles tendon, restricting him to five appearances in his second season. He was present and correct at the start of this campaign, only for a recurrence to send him back to the sidelines after a handful of appearances. His return against Bolton in the Carling Cup last week and as a late substitute in the tumultuous victory against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Saturday was more than welcome and coincided with his acceptance of a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2015.
Last night he was paired with Per Mertesacker, the man bought from Werder Bremen during the last transfer window in response to the popular demand for a tall centre-back. The German is 6ft 4in while Vermaelen stands a mere 6ft, which has never seemed a handicap to a man whose ability to head the ball puts him in a class with other great centre-backs of relatively restricted stature, such as Daniel Passarella, the captain of Argentina's 1978 world champions, and Paolo Montero of Uruguay.
Sure enough, a Vermaelen header provided one of Arsenal's two decent chances on the night. When Mikel Arteta angled in a free-kick in the first minute of the second half, Mertesacker met the ball with a back-header into the six-yard box, where his partner rose to win a challenge with the excellent Steve Mandanda and glanced his effort inches over. It was as close as Arsenal came to penetrating the Phoenicians' defence until, with 12 minutes left, Robin van Persie raced clear before sending a chip tamely into the gloves of a relieved Mandanda. For Wenger, barring further accidents, the dilemma will be over which of his players to select alongside Vermaelen on a regular basis. While Mertesacker might possess the more obviously complementary characteristics, Laurent Koscielny is the more polished footballer and seemed on the way to creating a useful partnership with the Belgian before the onset of Vermaelen's injury problems.
Marseille tore into the match with the sort of aggressive intent notably lacking from their performance in defeat against the same opponents in the Stade Vélodrome a fortnight ago, promising a stringent test of Vermaelen's match fitness and of Wenger's defence as a whole. Wearing the captain's armband while Van Persie started the evening on the substitutes' bench, Vermaelen did his best to radiate his usual sense of calmness and security in the face of regular assaults mounted by Jordan and André Ayew, Loïc Remy, Mathieu Valbuena and the substitute Morgan Amalfitano on the right wing.
Any wingers facing Arsenal this season and seeing the names of Jenkinson and Santos on the team sheet will fancy their chances of getting something from the contest, thanks to the inexperience of the tall young Anglo-Finn at right-back and the wanderlust of the solidly built Brazilian on the opposite flank. Santos, in particular, will always provide entertainment as he launches himself into injudicious challenges, leaving acres of space to be attacked by opponents when he ventures upfield and seeming to run short of puff when urgently required to regain his defensive station.
As they did against Chelsea at the weekend, however, his attacking incursions tended to overshadow his defensive limitations. "I'm happy when he has the ball," Wenger said afterwards, "and I feel personally that he's much better defensively that many people think. He's an intelligent boy and he's getting better all the time."
The positive approach displayed by Didier Deschamps' team, and their renewed counterattacks in the closing minutes as Arsenal pressed forward in search of a decisive strike, certainly presented the members of the home side's reshuffled back four with a worthwhile test. They may have been surprised in recent days to hear their manager insisting that defence is no longer a priority of the English game, but if defences were largely on top last night, that did not make the match less enjoyable, although it would have been hard to mistake it for a bout between heavyweight contenders.
Source: Richard Williams, The Guardian on 2 Nov 11
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