Is Thomas Vermaelen a Waste at Centre Half for Arsenal?

Thomas Vermaelen has very quickly established himself as one of the best defenders in England following his low profile move from Ajax in June, 2009.

Whilst injuries have held him back from truly being classified as one of the game’s best, he has become a fan and cult favourite at Arsenal because of his endless energy, his confidence and leadership, his ability to dominate in the air despite standing at only around 5’9 and his unbelievable knack for scoring goals from anywhere on the pitch.

Amazingly so far this season, Vermaelen, who cost Arsenal around 10 million pounds has scored more goals than both Andy Carroll (35 million pounds) and Fernando Torres (50 million pounds). He has done so in considerably less minutes. Obviously one of those three is a defender and is not necessarily paid to score goals.

Whilst the definitive statistic escapes me, Arsenal’s defensive record with Vermaelen in the team is a country mile better than without him, and actually it is one of the better defensive goal rates in the Premier League.

There is no doubting he is one of Arsenal’s top 3 players and certainly one of Arsenal’s top 3 most influential players. He makes everyone around him better.

So it’s unfathomable to think of taking him out of the position right? Wrong.

Vermaelen is as versatile a defender as anyone in football. Whilst the position that has earned him his herald is centre half, he plays fullback for Belgium and has played for country and his former team Ajax as a holding midfielder, and has done so more than capably.

Vermaelen shows a clear aptitude for going forward, both on and off the ball, and creating for his teammates. He has shown this despite playing centre half. He is one of the best aerial players in the league and has become one of the most dangerous players from corners. He has shown he can crack thunderbolts but also has an incredible touch as we have seen curling efforts converted by him both inside and outside the box.

Whilst this is merely a suggestion and in no way am I demanding this happen, I still ask the question; is it so unconscionable for me to say that Vermaelen would be more effective playing in a holding midfield role?

He would still be a vital cog in the defense, but it would give him more more of a license to roam forward, hang around the edge of the box and make the runs towards the front and back posts, which no one else seems willing to do.

His passing and athleticism is very underrated and his performances so far this year and throughout his injury interrupted career has me thinking he could be more useful in a more forward role.

Of course this is dependant on Arsenal feeling confident enough at the back to leave him out of the back four, something unconceivable over the past few seasons. But the emergence of Laurent Koscielny and the signing of Per Mertesacker may signal that as less of a worry. For me, Mertesacker has been a huge disappointment. How he fails to win headers at either end of the field given he is 6’8 defeats me. His physicality is non existent, which to me is a pre-requisite to play in the Premier League, he does everything half heartedly and he genuinely makes me nervous every time he is near the ball. Add to that he is slower than an 80 year old woman suffering from arthritis using a walking frame and basically you have a player I would not have signed in the first place. I will try to hold my judgement till the end of the year, like we needed to do with Koscielny and he is repaying our faith.

So if we were to move Vermaelen into a defensive midfield role it would cause a few headaches. One would be that our midfield trio, as we currently play an adapted 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1, is pretty set as it is. Ramsey, Song and Arteta have been simply stunning over the first portion of the season. Jack Wilshere is set to return early next year, which will cause serious competition for a starting place within those 4, and we also have Coquelin and Frimpong on the bench who can contribute.

The other issue is the fact it would thin out the defensive personnel. Whilst there is still Miquel, Djourou, Koscileny and Mertersacker (I’m not even going to count Squillaci), to me only one of those is good enough to start each and every week and I think I’ve made it clear who that is. That would mean we would have to go after another starting centre half. We all know Wenger does not like to splash the cash, so that is unlikely.

So it seems I have largely answered my own question as to whether it could happen, but that doesn’t answer the question as to whether it should happen.

Whilst Vermaelen is far form a waste at centre half, had Arsenal boasted more quality in the position, I think he would certainly benefit the team in a more productive way with a more attacking role.

I guess all we can do is dream….or just do it on FIFA.