The Return of The Verminator?

By: Sairax | May 4th, 2011

Three games left in the season and our title hopes ended not with a bang, but with a whimper. It’s hard not to look back and see a lot of missed opportunities. Obviously OptaJoe feels our pain because they tweeted this interesting table yesterday:

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That, my gooner friends, is what the league table would look like if all the shots that hit the woodwork this season had actually gone into the net. I have to think RvP is at the top of the list of players who have hit the crossbar. So there you are, something else to tear your hair out over. Personally, I am lamenting the idea of Manchester United winning their fourth European title at Wembley in a few weeks. I have confidence that Barcelona will crush them though. No matter how much they annoy me, Barcelona are still a team of tremendous quality, plus they have Messi who is on a mental run of scoring goals and assists this season. I’ll be less bitter and angry about them winning the Champions League than seeing the possibility of ManUtd pick up two major trophies this season. If only Bendtner had taken that chance at the Camp Nou. I hope he has nightmares about that chance.

That was all a bit depressing, so let me move on to some good news. I know you’re all thinking “Arsenal? Good news? C’est impossible!” No, I am serious, there really is good news! It seems that Thomas Vermaelen is set to play against Stoke this weekend. I kid you not. Now, some of you may not even remember Thomas Vermaelen since he has not played with us in what seems like ages, so here is a picture to refresh your memory:

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Ohhhh now I remember him! It’s The Verminator back in the flesh! He seemed to play the game in the reserves without any issues, so it looks like he’s fit and ready to go, which is great since Djourou is out with an ankle injury he picked up in the ManUtd game. Let’s hope he has a good game and doesn’t get re-injured.

To close out today’s post, I just wanted to share a link to an interview with Szczesny and his dad, Maciej Szczesny. Maciej was a goalkeeper for Legia Warszawa and the Poland National Team. The interview was originally in Polish, but the ArseGunn blog translated it into English. It’s a great read and gives you a sense of the good relationship between Wojo and his dad. Just for kicks, here’s Maciej punching Roberto Mancini in the face during a Legia-Sampdoria game (skip to 7:00 in the video):

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Category: Arsenal News, Thomas Vermaelen, Video, Wojciech Szczesny

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Patoux21

I can't stand watching this group of play-acitng moaners in Barca. Cheating and deceiving is probalby one of the worst thing in football. Even though I am an Arsenal fan I wish victory to ManU.
Homey_Mills

It's like a brand new signing! Forget the transfer market.
thechaikid

yes barca will crush man united ;D (barca fan here, well obviously also an arsenal fan haha :D)
but nevertheless, man.united is going to be a tough opponent. they've been having a fabulous season, great players. they managed to play amazing yesterday without some of their starters.
however barca's offense is amazing. messi is godly. villa is becoming more of a player with impact. then there's our phenomonal midfield (xavi, iniesta :D). and with captain puyol back along with abidal and pique back in form, our defense is solid once again.
:D
and yes vermaelen :D! this weekend is going be something to look forward. can't wait!
lets hope arsenal wins again. hopefully that nice play and win against man.united last weekend brough back their confidence. it sucks to see arsenal make numerous chances and only make a minute number of them into goals. ):.
Casimir

Manure hasn't been all that impressive this season, with the exception of their ability to pull out last minute draws and victories that they had no business of achieving. They wouldn't be at the top of the table if the rest of the "top four" didn't drop so many senseless points to the bottom of the table.

Barca will absolutely annihilate Manure. Just by looking at the analysis of the last four or so games of Arsenal v ManU on Zonal Marking, you'll see that Barca will handle them, so long as nothing wacky happens (down a man, injury, penalty, etc). Whether they decide to press your fullbacks or not, they will concede possession to Barca just like they have against Arsenal, with the main difference being that Barca's finishing is much more clinical and they convert the opportunities given to them; they aren't as wasteful as we have been in front of goal, especially against ManU.
Martin

Yeah, it is funny. I hate defending Manchester United, I really do, but I feel like all season, everyone has been saying, basically, "Manchester United sucks. All they do is figure out a way to win games." Well, I mean, at the end of the day, that is the point -- to win games. And just because they don't dominate teams doesn't mean it's that much less impressive. In fact, in a way it's more impressive -- when they're tied, or even when they're behind, late in matches, you just get that feeling that they will find a way to score and get a win or draw out of it.

I would also say that if this was anyone other than Manchester United, I'd be rooting hard for them against Barcelona. Scrappy, gutsy underdogs and all that. But as it is, I can't root for them, and throw in the fact that I may or may not have bet a substantial amount of money on Barcelona to win the Champions League, and I'll be sitting on the couch trying to say "mes que un club" without throwing up in my mouth for the big game.

But I do feel like this United team, and Ferguson, probably haven't gotten enough credit this year, because for a team that looks decidedly mediocre at times, they show up and work their asses off every game and have earned the title. Assuming they win the league, I would say this is by far the least talented of Ferguson's Man United title-winning teams.
Gigi_man

Yes. Thats the point indeed.
But on the other hand, I cant root for Barza, for 2 red cards that were, imo, a little too suspicious.
I will not cheer all the way, nor applaud any of the players in a goal or anything, maybe a half a smile at some moments.
Homey_Mills

Just to clarify, the Martin, you're saying that you now admire both Man Utd AND Spurs?

Also, I liked how you said you may or may not have bet a substantial amount on Barca. It sounds rather like you did.
Benjamin Dockter

Which is why it hurts like a b*tch to think that we couldn't beat the worst ManU team in a long time to take the title.
Martin

Yep. The league was there for the taking this year. And I think it's pretty reasonable to think that Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool will all be better next season, which means we blew a golden opportunity. Sigh.
Gigi_man

exactly
Homey_Mills

I agree with your points regarding the qualities of Barca and MU. However, soccer can be a funny game when it's just a one-game situation. If there were a multi-game series, I'd say MU would have almost no chance. But how many times have we seen Arsenal dominate possession and chances, but it just doesn't go our way?
I know you alluded to some of that in your post. I'm just saying I wouldn't be so bold as to make a definitive statement that "Barca will absolutely annihilate Manure." I hope they do though. (Picking the lesser of two evils here.)
perryvs

come on.....Wojo's dad barely grazed him
FredJacob

yea he only deserve a yellow for that punch lol