FA Cup final: Thomas Vermaelen desperate to play his part in ending Arsenal trophy drought

 
Bit-part player: Thomas Vermaelen has started only 14 games this season because of the form of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny
James Olley15 May 2014

It is a sign of how times have changed for Thomas Vermaelen and Arsenal in the last three years that his absence in a cup final could almost pass unnoticed whereas once it would have caused huge concern.

Back in 2011, the injured Belgian defender was absent when the Gunners made their last appearance in a final at Wembley in the hope of winning their first trophy in six years.

It proved hugely significant. Vermaelen had been the club’s defensive lynchpin since arriving from Ajax a year earlier but persistent Achilles tendon problems restricted him to just five Premier League starts.

Arsene Wenger was consequently forced to rely on Johan Djourou and Laurent Koscielny at centre-half, the latter still adjusting during a mixed first season in English football.

Vermaelen could only watch on as Koscielny and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny were involved in a calamitous mix-up that gifted Obafemi Martins a late winner in a dramatic 2-1 victory for a Birmingham side who were relegated to the Championship that season.

Since then, Koscielny has grown in stature alongside Per Mertesacker and their partnership yielded remarkable results. Arsenal went more than two years without losing a Premier League game when both players started together until February’s 5-1 defeat at Liverpool.

During that period, Vermaelen has found opportunities hard to come by. The 28-year-old has deputised at left-back on occasion — a role he performs under duress — and only started 14 games this season.

His captaincy has been little more than a nominal role as a result and led to speculation he could leave the club this summer.

Vermaelen sought to distance himself from any transfer talk and instead underlined his desire in having the opportunity to finally play a part in halting Arsenal’s trophyless run.

“The whole time in 2011 was difficult for me, to be out for such a long time,” he said. “Missing big games like finals was never easy. I was at Wembley that day, I was in the stands. It’s a long time ago but it was a very disappointing result and everybody knows that. We can’t think about it.

“Saturday is a different game again. There are a lot of changes in the team since then — a lot of players have left — but we have to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Of the 18 players included in the matchday squad against Birmingham, only seven remain at the club, highlighting the significant turnover Wenger has overseen in recent seasons.Some have been by design, others such as Samir Nasri, Alex Song and Robin van Persie have forced their exits having grown impatient with the dearth of major honours.

Despite the remarkable achievement of securing Champions League football for a 17th consecutive season, the lack of silverware hangs over the club as a reminder of opportunities lost.

“We know there has been a lot of talk about not winning a trophy for a long time and so for us it would be important to win the final,” said Vermaelen. “The FA Cup is very important for us. It is a big thing and winning it would be amazing. The team are very ambitious and hungry to win on Saturday.

Every Arsenal player at World Cup 2014

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“Hopefully, it could lead to more. It would give us a massive boost anyway if we could win it and for the next few years as well. There is loads of potential in this team, a lot of good players so it would give confidence for the following years.”

Arsenal beat Hull home and away in the League this season, scoring five goals without reply. Unfortunately for Steve Bruce, he will not be able call on cup-tied strikers Nikica Jelavic and Shane Long but Vermaelen, perhaps with memories of Birmingham enduring, warned against any complacency.

“I wouldn’t say it was comfortable against them because if you look at the first half [of last month’s 3-0 away win], they made it quite difficult,” said Vermaelen. “They battled a lot [and hit many] long balls… so it wasn’t easy.

“After we scored the first goal it was much easier but Hull are a good team, they have a great manager and the final is always something special so it doesn’t mean we are going to win easily.

“If you look at the players they have, individually they have some quality. They bought new strikers in the winter but I heard they can’t play.

“Still, they have some good players with [Jake] Livermore and [Tom] Huddlestone. They have individuals with a lot of qualities so they can make it difficult for us.”

Whether Vermaelen will lead the team out this weekend is open to debate. Mertesacker and Koscielny are fit, while Kieran Gibbs returned at Norwich last Sunday with fellow left-back Nacho Monreal on the bench.

His chances look bleak, especially given five stitches in a knee problem that forced him to miss training yesterday. “Everybody knows a cup final is something special and everybody wants to play finals as a player,” he said. “So for me as well it would be something special to go out there.”

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