http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Vermaelen-c35002 says he learnt a lot during his injury – EPL news
Arsenal centre-back Thomas Vermaelen has claimed that he has been studying his own game and insisted that he has learnt a lot during his lengthy stay on the sidelines due to Achilles injury.
Vermaelen told Arsenal’s official website, “I’ve learned a lot [while I've been out]. Mentally for sure, but I also had the time to work on some of my weaknesses. I saw http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604 passing me by - top games for sure. And that’s
frustrating: you want to be on the pitch. You can learn from the positioning of other defenders, while watching them. And that’s what I did.”
The Belgian defender suffered the Achilles injury during international duty and his last Arsenal match was a win over Blackburn http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Rovers-c40385 in August 2010.
The 25-year-old was initially ruled for a few weeks by Arsene Wenger and was expected to play away in three weeks’ time against Chelsea. The former Ajax player even participated in the training before the match but was deemed unfit by the Arsenal medical
staff.
Since then, many dates have been set for Vermaelen’s return but he could not make it. Recently, he underwent a successful operation but Arsene Wenger has ruled him out of the rest of the ongoing 2010-11 season.
Vermaelen, who had been on the sidelines for six months due to the injury, has claimed that it was the lowest time of his career for being not able to take any part in Arsenal’s bid for the Premier League. The 25-year-old expressed his frustration and claimed
that he wanted to continue his form of the previous season which earned him a place in the Premier League team of the season.
Moreover, Vermaelen also stated that he desired to be a part of the Arsenal team against Barcelona and wanted the Gunners to knock out the Catalans from the UEFA Champions League.
He said, “In the stands, especially against Barcelona, you feel more tension than on the field. I was quite nervous, I noticed, even during the return match I watched on TV. I wanted so badly that we went through. But on the other hand, on television and
in the stands you have a better view of the game.”
However, Arsenal were knocked out of the Champions League after suffering a 3-1 defeat against Barcelona and the Gunners’ certainly missed Vermaelen who was exceptional against the Catalans in the previous season.
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