Thomas Vermaelen

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Mainoldo said:
Calm down calm down.... We was never going to blow silly money on a CENTER BACK. Which in all honesty we would have had too for the type of player we wanted. Vermaelen gives the experience whilst we cross our fingers Jones and Smalling turn out to be world class which was always the initial thinking.
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I'm not saying we necessarily have to spend silly money on a centre back, but for me it's either bringing in someone who's ready to play understudy to whoever of Smalling / Jones / Evans establish themselves as a first choice pair, or bring in top quality. Germane lean (autocorrect suggestion for spelling Vermaelen, thanks Steve) is none of those two things, as I don't think he'll be happy to warm the bench, nor is he good enough to be a first choice at he level we should aspire to.

Il Prete Rosso said:
Football doesn't work like that. A player can be piss poor in a system and flourish in another. In addition, top defenders in Europe aren't going to be readily available on the transfer market unless you're willing to pay over the top for them.
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I know, I'm just not convinced Vermaelen has ever played at the required level to be a first choice centre back at a top club though. Even when the media and pundits were claiming that he was he best centre back in the league because he scored some great goals, the overall consensus here on the Caf was that he was a bit of a defensive liability and that his goals masked the fact. And I agreed with that, and think the subsequent events have proven that to be true.

Koscielny and Mertesäcker are both much better centre backs than him for instance, in my opinion.

Edit: As for the availability of other centre backs, I'm not really clued in enough on the market to comment, so you may well be right that he's the best option in the talked about price range. I'm still underwhelmed though! And possibly spoiled ;-)
 
I have to say I'm not as against this signing as most, if around £10 million or just under. He just strikes me as a van Gaal type player. Comfortable on the ball, adaptable, and can play in more than one position (three or four at the back, left back in an emergency).

There's no question he's gone stale at Arsenal and he needs a move. The main concern, as others have pointed out, is injuries. But if he can stay fit I think he might pleasantly surprise some people and prove a good signing.
 
That's the thing, even though I'm against the signing I can still see something in the idea. He really is the ideal type of player for a LVG team and he would be a perfect fit if it wasn't for how poor he's been over the last few seasons.

So basically he'll be an excellent signing as long as he improves massively on arrival. Which is a really crap premise to sign a player on.
 
::sonny:: said:
With Vermaelen the transfers for CB are over

Evans
Jones
Smalling
Vermaelen

I don't think this year we'll sign other CBs, considering that we are in only in the Premier League

I think the other competitors have better players there

Chelsea:
Ivanovic
Terry
Cahill
Varane (probably)

City have better players, probably even Liverpool and maybe Arsenal

With Chelsea a million year ahead all
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Are you really using players Chelsea haven't signed to highlight how much better Chelsea are at centre back than us?
 
Jed I. Knight said:
I'm not saying we necessarily have to spend silly money on a centre back, but for me it's either bringing in someone who's ready to play understudy to whoever of Smalling / Jones / Evans establish themselves as a first choice pair, or bring in top quality. Germane lean (autocorrect suggestion for spelling Vermaelen, thanks Steve) is none of those two things, as I don't think he'll be happy to warm the bench, nor is he good enough to be a first choice at he level we should aspire to.



I know, I'm just not convinced Vermaelen has ever played at the required level to be a first choice centre back at a top club though. Even when the media and pundits were claiming that he was he best centre back in the league because he scored some great goals, the overall consensus here on the Caf was that he was a bit of a defensive liability and that his goals masked the fact. And I agreed with that, and think the subsequent events have proven that to be true.

Koscielny and Mertesäcker are both much better centre backs than him for instance, in my opinion.

Edit: As for the availability of other centre backs, I'm not really clued in enough on the market to comment, so you may well be right that he's the best option in the talked about price range. I'm still underwhelmed though! And possibly spoiled ;-)
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Evidently :).
Koscielny was labeled as crap when he first came. In all honesty, no one would have predicted him being picked before Vermaelen. I suggest you give LVG the time to work out what system he wants to use Vermaelen in.
 
Lane said:
Martinez, Dante, Boateng - that's three. Badstuber is not class whether he is back from the injury or not. Being injured for two years disqualify anyone's quality. Also Martinez is not class as a CB. He would be able to play as a CB in any non-"spanish" top team. Guardiola specific tactics allow him to play as a CB. But Martinez will always remain is a makeshift CB, he will not be considered as a main CB. And even in Bayern he played more matches as a DM.
And if rumors to be believed Munich wants to offload Badstuber, Van Buyten is off and Martinez would not want to play as a CB, so team needs a third real CB to cover in the first team.
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:lol:
 
KM said:
I'm not in favour of this signing but JTS kinda hypocritical how the signing of Lambert was heralded as pretty good by majority here and yet this deal isn't.
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Lambert will be on half the wages and cost half the fee of Vermaelen. He's also coming off the back of two very good seasons in the league.
 
BarneyLFC said:
Lambert will be on half the wages and cost half the fee of Vermaelen. He's also coming off the back of two very good seasons in the league.
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Do you have a scouse bat signal that shines in the sky every time someone posts something about Liverpool?
 
If your going of his form in his first season at arsenal then its a good signing . Unfortunately going off the last couple of seasons its a massive thumbs down .
 
sullydnl said:
That's the thing, even though I'm against the signing I can still see something in the idea. He really is the ideal type of player for a LVG team and he would be a perfect fit if it wasn't for how poor he's been over the last few seasons.

So basically he'll be an excellent signing as long as he improves massively on arrival. Which is a really crap premise to sign a player on.
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Yeah, there's no question we'll need an improvement on his recent Arsenal form. I just hope the platform we're going to give him to prove himself again, coupled with a new coach who believes in him and regular games, might be enough to get him back to his early Arsenal form, which I thought was very good.

It's a gamble of sorts of course, but it's one that may well pay off. I'm happy to back van Gaal's judgement that it will because he clearly has a role in mind for him.

On a sidenote, although there's been small links with Vermaelan this summer, there certainly hasn't been strong rumours. I find it interesting that less than two days after a journalist first tweeted about our interest, there is now a seemingly reliable journalist from the Telegraph confirming we've agreed terms with the player. Makes me wonder if deals are now being done more on the quiet, and we may well be close to having more lined up. A better way to go about things in my opinion.
 
I've got a 'no smoke without fire' kind of feeling with this one. I'd be surprised if it wasn't happening.
 
Truedevil said:
He would cost twice as much though.
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Still better than getting Vermaelen. Or just go for someone else. We are trying to replace our best ever centre back partnership in history. So we have to spend big to replace them.
 
RDCR07 said:
Still better than getting Vermaelen. Or just go for someone else. We are trying to replace our best ever centre back partnership in history. So we have to spend big to replace them.
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I'm not sure if van Gaal is going for him to be the first choice. He would be on par with Evans and Smalling for me. With Jones we would have 4 equally good CBs.
 
I'm not against us signing him. I completely trust Van Gaals judgement.
 
Red Dreams said:
I'm not sure if van Gaal is going for him to be the first choice. He would be on par with Evans and Smalling for me. With Jones we would have 4 equally good CBs.
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Thats exactly my point. We have enough of this "sub par" players already in our squad. We don't need another. We need a proper signing because we lost two absolute monsters in defense.
 
RDCR07 said:
Thats exactly my point. We have enough of this "sub par" players already in our squad. We don't need another. We need a proper signing because we lost two absolute monsters in defense.
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must disagree with you. Evans gets injured too often. But he is not sub par. Smalling when he plays has looked quality. He just needs games to establish himself for good. Jones has been shunted about all over. He is good as CB, RB or in midfield.
 
Ramshock said:
Has the world ended yet since it looks like we are signing another Belgian? At least he isnt 9 foot tall or has an afro so he might get one game in for us before he gets dogs abuse
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We're loading up on them. Januzaj, Fellaini, and Vermalen. LvG must be after Hazard too next...
 
RDCR07 said:
Still better than getting Vermaelen. Or just go for someone else. We are trying to replace our best ever centre back partnership in history. So we have to spend big to replace them.
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I think we are saving money to strenghten the midfield area so getting a cheap but good defender makes sense.
 
RDCR07 said:
Thats exactly my point. We have enough of this "sub par" players already in our squad. We don't need another. We need a proper signing because we lost two absolute monsters in defense.
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But if Evans, Smalling or Jones won't step up next year, when will they?

And who can we get exactly? It does not look there is a player that is available and much better than these guys. I mean we need some reinforcement, but it time to decide whether to actually put trust in Smalling and Evans (as they are much older than Jones and Jones is more versatile) or not. If Evans or Smalling can't be our main defenders at 26 and 25, they will probably never be.
 
sullydnl said:
That's the thing, even though I'm against the signing I can still see something in the idea. He really is the ideal type of player for a LVG team and he would be a perfect fit if it wasn't for how poor he's been over the last few seasons.

So basically he'll be an excellent signing as long as he improves massively on arrival. Which is a really crap premise to sign a player on.
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The premise isn't quite as crap as you make out though. It's about staying fit long enough to regain lost form, rather than finding a whole new level to his game.

Still a gamble, mind you.
 
Il Prete Rosso said:
Evidently :).
Koscielny was labeled as crap when he first came. In all honesty, no one would have predicted him being picked before Vermaelen. I suggest you give LVG the time to work out what system he wants to use Vermaelen in.
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Don't worry, I will!

It doesn't really come as a surprise as LvG comes with a bit of a history of being a (self-proclaimed, even) bargain shopper, so I don't think anyone can be really surprised about a move like this to be honest. I'm just calling it like I see it now, but nothing would delight me more than us signing an out of favour player from our rivals and him turning it around though. And to be honest, it being Van Gaal behind it and all, I'd expect no less. But like we just agreed on, I'm a bit spoiled ;)

And fair point about Koscielny, he wasn't an instant hit as you say. His was four years younger than Vermaelen is now though!
 
Pogue Mahone said:
The premise isn't quite as crap as you make out though. It's about staying fit long enough to regain lost form, rather than finding a whole new level to his game.

Still a gamble, mind you.
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Not a whole new level to his game, but a level he hasn't been near in several seasons. Signing a player in the hope that he stays injury free, at which point we hope he recaptures form he lost years ago? Definitely not ideal.

In fairness he won't cost much so it's a fairly low risk gamble and if it payed off he probably would be an ideal CB for LVG. The odds on it paying off to that extent seem pretty long though....

Red Dreams said:
I'm not sure if van Gaal is going for him to be the first choice. He would be on par with Evans and Smalling for me. With Jones we would have 4 equally good CBs.
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I would've thought he'd be unlikely to swap sitting on the bench at Arsenal for sitting on the bench at United. He needs regular football and if he's coming here I'd imagine that's exactly what we've promised him. Plus if the reports of 100k wages are true then surely that's too much for a 3rd/4th choice CB?
 
sullydnl said:
Not a whole new level to his game, but a level he hasn't been near in several seasons. Signing a player in the hope that he stays injury free, at which point we hope he recaptures form he lost years ago? Definitely not ideal.

In fairness he won't cost much so it's a fairly low risk gamble and if it payed off he probably would be an ideal CB for LVG. The odds on it paying off to that extent seem pretty long though....



I would've thought he'd be unlikely to swap sitting on the bench at Arsenal for sitting on the bench at United. He needs regular football and if he's coming here I'd imagine that's exactly what we've promised him. Plus if the reports of 100k wages are true then surely that's too much for a 3rd/4th choice CB?
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who do you see as starting with him?
 
Grinner said:
No but he's not jumping straight in to the team is he?

Do you lot seriously think we should have paid him 150 grand a week to stay?
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I don't. You's made the right decision. He's not all that, and certainly not worth breaking your wage structure for.
 
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