More worries for Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal team as their strong center back Thomas Vermaelen is ruled out for six weeks. Vermaelen joins the long list of injured Arsenal players as the team looks to recover from a dreadful start to the Barclays Premier League. 25 year old Vermaelen will be sidelined for 6 weeks because of the surgery on an Achilles injury. The Belgian missed almost the whole last season due to injury but he looked solid during the start of the season. This injury will not only add to the defensive woes of Arsenal, but also will be frustrating for Varmaelen who just recovered from a long injury layoff.
Arsenal: Vermaelen injured for six weeks
Vermaelen picked up the injury during the Champions league qualifier match against Udiense. Vermalelen picked up an Achilles injury on his right foot last season when made him stay out of football for 8 months though the current injury is not too serious. While talking about the injury Vermaelen’s father said – “The doctor in Stockholm, where Thomas was operated on last time too, recognised the problem now. He would not take any chances and immediately operated on Thomas. He expects a five to six weeks of unavailability.”
Filling Vermaelen’s void will be the newly signed German center back Per Mertesacker. Mertesacker is a giant defender who is 6 feet 5, but he needs time to adjust with the pace of the English game. Mertesacker is also not pacey but he is good aerially and also has good tackling abilities. Arsenal though have plenty of options for the center back position with Laurent Koscielny, Johan Djourou and Sebastien Squillaci all waiting on the wings.
Arsenal need to improve their game significantly if they are to challenge for a Champions League place. So an injury to a key player like Vermaelen will definitely hurt them.
Tags: Arsenal, Arsene Wenger, Barclays Premier League, EPL, Thomas Vermaelen
