Thomas Vermaelen
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas Vermaelen | ||
| Date of birth | 14 November 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Kapellen, Belgium | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Arsenal | ||
| Number | 5 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1991–1999 | Germinal Ekeren | ||
| 1999–2000 | Germinal Beerschot | ||
| 2000–2003 | Ajax | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2009 | Ajax | 99 | (8) |
| 2004–2005 | → RKC Waalwijk (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| 2009– | Arsenal | 110 | (13) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2002–2003 | Belgium U18 | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Belgium U19 | 7 | (0) |
| 2004–2007 | Belgium U21 | 13 | (1) |
| 2008 | Belgium U23 | 5 | (0) |
| 2006– | Belgium | 46 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22:36, 4 May 2014 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 09:29, 27 December 2013 (UTC) | |||
Thomas Vermaelen (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈtoː.mɑs vər.ˈmaː.lə(n)]; born 14 November 1985) is a Belgian footballer who captains Arsenal and also plays for Belgium.
Vermaelen joined the AFC Ajax youth academy in 2000 and won the 2003–04 Eredivisie title in his first season with the club. He had a loan spell with RKC Waalwijk before rejoining Ajax and winning the KNVB Cup and Johan Cruijff Shield. After Klaas-Jan Huntelaar's departure in 2009, he served as club captain for the remainder of the season. He joined Arsenal in 2009 and was included in the PFA Premier League Team of the Year for that season. Following Robin van Persie's transfer toManchester United in August 2012, he was named club captain.
Being left-footed, he usually plays as a left-sided centre back and can play at left-back as well.[2] His key attributes include aerial ability, leadership skills, and his quickness with the ball at his feet. He is also known for his goalscoring ability as a defender.
Contents
[hide]Club career[edit]
Early career[edit]
Vermaelen, though quite small for a central defender, started his career in his home country with Germinal Ekeren, which later changed its name to Germinal Beerschot after a merger.
Ajax[edit]
Vermaelen joined the academy of Dutch club AFC Ajax. He made his professional debut on 15 February 2004 in a 0–2 away win over FC Volendam.
His breakthrough came when he returned to Ajax and won the KNVB Cup. Performances that season resulted in a call-up to the Belgium national football team. Ajax won the Johan Cruijff Shield and another KNVB Cup the following season and in 2007, they won the Johan Cruijff Shield for the second consecutive time.[3] He forged a partnership with fellow academy graduate John Heitinga and later Jan Vertonghen when Heitinga left forAtlético Madrid in Spain. Following the departure of Klaas-Jan Huntelaar in mid-season, Vermaelen served as captain of Ajax for the remainder of the 2008–09 season and he played mostly as a left-back.
Arsenal[edit]
2009–10 season[edit]
Vermaelen joined Arsenal from Ajax for an initial fee of €10 million (rising to €12 million) on 19 June 2009, signing a four-year contract.[4][5] After Kolo Touré surrendered the number 5 jersey to him upon joining Manchester City,[6]Vermaelen, with William Gallas, formed Arsenal's central defence pairing. Vermaelen made his Premier League debut on 15 August 2009 in a 1–6 away win against Everton, and scored in the 37th minute.[7] He became the 84th Arsenal player to score in their debut.[8] He then scored a brace against Wigan Athletic in a 4–0 victory.[9]
Arsenal fans voted him as their Player of the Month twice in a row on Arsenal.com,[10][11] and affectionately nicknamed him the "Verminator."[2] He scored an own goal, however, in a home match against Chelsea when a cross came in from Ashley Cole. The game finished 0–3 to Chelsea at theEmirates Stadium.[12]
He became notable for being a goal scoring defender due to his spectacular 25-yard left footed goal against Blackburn Rovers and many headed goals during the first half of Arsenal's 2009–10 season.[13] In recognition of his contributions, he was nominated for the Belgian Sportsman of the Year award[14] and was also included in the PFA Team of the Season.[15] Vermaelen finished the season with 45 games and eight goals in all competitions under his belt.
2010–11 season[edit]
In the pre-season of the 2010–11 season, Vermaelen captained Arsenal in an Emirates Cup match againstMilan with regular captain Cesc Fàbregas and vice-captains Manuel Almunia and Robin van Persie not in the squad.[16] Vermaelen started all of the first three Arsenal matches of the season before suffering an achilles injury on international duty with Belgium.[17]
He had a new injury setback when manager Arsène Wenger reported that the achilles problem would keep him out of action until 2011.[18]On 17 March 2011, Wenger confirmed that Vermaelen would miss the remainder of the season with a new injury setback,[19] but on 26 April, Vermaelen played 90 minutes in his first competitive game after eight months in a reserves game against Manchester United at Old Trafford on 28 April. On 8 May, he was included in Arsenal's 18-man squad travelling to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium; Vermaelen, however, was an unused sub, but on 15 May, he finally returned in Arsenal's 2–1 defeat to Aston Villa and played the full 90 minutes.
2011–12 season[edit]
Following Cesc Fàbregas' transfer to FC Barcelona in August 2011, Vermaelen was named vice-captain of Arsenal, with Robin van Persie named captain.[20] On 6 September 2011, he had treatment on his Achilles tendon, which ruled Vermaelan out for six weeks. On 18 October 2011, he signed a contract extension to keep him at the club for an additional four years. He made his long-awaited return against Bolton Wanderers in the fourth round of the Football League Cup, where he captained the side to a 2–1 victory at the Emirates Stadium. He suffered a suspected calf injury in the 84th minute, but to Arsenal's relief, he stated in the post-match interview it was just a cramp. On 1 November, Vermaelen started his first UEFA Champions League game in three months against Olympique de Marseille and played a key role in helping keep a clean sheet for the Gunners in which the game ended 0–0.
Vermaelen scored Arsenal's second goal in their 3–0 win over West Bromwich Albion on 5 November. He also featured in the 1–1 draw with Fulham on 26 November, when he scored a 65th minute own-goal but salvaged a point with an 82nd minute equaliser for Arsenal. On 3 December, Vermaelen scored the second goal against Wigan Athletic to win the match 4–0.[21] On 12 March 2012, Vermaelen scored the winner in the 95th minute against Newcastle United. He had run the entire length of the pitch to score a half-volley from Theo Walcott's cross. In the following game, he converted a Robin van Persie corner, heading home Arsenal's only goal in a 0–1 victory over Everton at Goodison Park. On 16 April 2012, he headed home a Tomáš Rosický cross against Wigan Athletic to reduce the deficit to 1–2, with Wigan having taken a two-goal lead at the Emirates. The scoreline, however, finished the same. Manager Arsène Wenger has called him a defensive rock and his partnership with Laurent Koscielny is strong, enabling Arsenal to build from the back.
2012–13 season[edit]
In August 2012, Vermaelen was announced as Arsenal's new captain, replacing Robin van Persie upon his departure to Manchester United.[22]
On 11 December 2012, Vermaelen missed the deciding penalty kick in Arsenal's shoot-out defeat against League Two side Bradford City in the League Cup, his shot striking the post. Vermaelen had scored Arsenal's equalising goal within normal time of the same match.[23] Consistently poor performances followed for Vermaelen, however, most notably against Manchester City and Liverpool.
His performances forced Arsène Wenger to drop Vermaelen for the pivotal Champions League game against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena. Arsenal won 0–2, although it was not enough to progress to the next round through aggregate, but they were the first team to prevent Bayern from scoring that season, thanks to an assured performance from the defence and reserve goalkeeper Łukasz Fabiański.[24] Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny continued to partner each other at centre back for the following games, until the former's red card against West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns on 6 April 2013 gave Vermaelen a chance to reinstate himself in the team. Arsenal held on for a 1–2 win. Due to Mertesacker's suspension, Vermaelen partnered Koscielny for the game against Norwich City on 13 April, with Arsenal winning 3–1.
International career[edit]
A former youth international, Vermaelen had participated in the U-19 Championships and the 2007 U-21 European Championships. He made his senior debut for Belgium at age 20 against Luxembourg in March 2006. On 8 October 2009, he was named Belgium captain[25] prior to the games against Turkey and Estonia in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers but could not prevent the Belgians from finishing fourth in their group. He was recalled to squad for 14 November friendly against Hungary and scored his first goal for his country by tapping in an Eden Hazard cross. Vermaelen is regarded as one of the best Belgian defenders of his generation. Vermaelen wears the number 3 jersey and he has also won 42 caps for them and regularly partners Vincent Kompany who has 55 caps to his name.[26]
International goals[edit]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 14 November 2009 | Jules Ottenstadion, Ghent, Belgium |  Hungary | Friendly |
International appearances[edit]
As of 10:36, 17 August 2013 (UTC)
| Belgium national football team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2006 | 6 | 0 |
| 2007 | 5 | 0 |
| 2008 | 5 | 0 |
| 2009 | 11 | 1 |
| 2010 | 4 | 0 |
| 2011 | 2 | 0 |
| 2012 | 7 | 0 |
| 2013 | 6 | 0 |
| Total | 46 | 1 |
Career statistics[edit]
Club[edit]
 | This section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (March 2014) |
- As of 4 May 2014.[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | Cup[27] | Europe | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Ajax | 2003–04 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Waalwijk (loan) | 2004–05 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| Ajax | 2005–06 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 4 | 0 |
| 2006–07 | 23 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 40 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2008–09 | 31 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 5 | 0 | |
| Total | 99 | 8 | 0 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 144 | 12 | 0 | |
| Arsenal | 2009–10 | 33 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 45 | 8 | 2 |
| 2010–11 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2011–12 | 29 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 6 | 2 | |
| 2012–13 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 14 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 1 | |
| Total | 110 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 150 | 15 | 6 | |
| Career total | 222 | 23 | 4 | 35 | 2 | 0 | 51 | 2 | 2 | 308 | 27 | 6 | |
Honours[edit]
Club[edit]
- Ajax
- Eredivisie (1): 2003–04
- KNVB Cup (2): 2005–06, 2006–07
- Johan Cruijff Shield (2): 2006, 2007
- Arsenal
Individual[edit]
- PFA Premier League Team of the Year (1): 2009–10
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