After demanding Arsène Wenger to take him off with a mere four minutes remaining against Bolton on Tuesday night, Arsenal favourite Thomas Vermaelen’s return from injury was looking to end gloomily, but now it seems he will be fit to face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge next week after all.
However, having initially declared that “’he will be a bit short for Saturday”, Wenger looks to have been far too pessimistic, the defender stating via the club’s website: “It was great to be back and to get time on the pitch. I felt fresh, I’m OK and am available for Saturday.”
This news will undoubtedly come as a huge relief for Gooners – and a mighty disappointment for Chelsea fans – after a solid comeback in which he was rarely troubled. To add to another reliable display, he hit a tremendous 30 yard effort in the first half, the ball smashing off of Bogdan’s gloves when it looked to be heading neatly into the corner.
Without failing to appreciate the impact of Vermaelen, the fact that there wasn’t a total panic when the original news of his rumoured injury broke out does show how much Arsenal have progressed in recent weeks. Mertesacker and Koscielny – the latter in particular – have excelled for the Gunners in recent games and even the much-distrusted Squillaci didn’t show too many signs of being completely incompetent. Even in last season’s winter clash with the Blues, Koscielny dealt admirably with the threat of Drogba without Vermaelen by his side, and that was before he had even reached the corner that he has no seemingly turned.
Even if Vermaelen’s injury had put him out of contention for this weekend’s game, it would still be looking ever so promising for the Gunners. The combination of seven wins in eight games and a now confirmed full-strength central defence makes the trip to Stamford Bridge look like a far less daunting proposition. After Chelsea’s disappointing performance last week against QPR, Andre Villas-Boas must be more than a little worried….
so what will our back four be for saturday?
kos and merte as cbs, verm and santos as lb and rb?
or merte and verm as cbs, kos at right back and santos at left back?
as merte and kos have built quite a reliable partnership at the back, i’d start them for saturday as cbs. then santos or verm as rb, depends on who feels more comfortable in that position.
I wouldn’t want us to risk Vermaelen,so I’d stick with Kos and Per as Cbs,there’s plenty of games for Verm.Santos at LB and Djorou at RB.Use Theo as sub and start Park with VP playing behind him.