Looks like Thomas Vermaelen will play against Bolton tonight.
That Carling Cup news is long-awaited and welcome. The big Belgian is a tremendous player and a tower of strength.
He was magnificent in his first season and if TV5 could come back and be as influential as that from January to May, Arsenal’s prospects will improve rapidly.
The 2010 Vermaelen was good enough to have played in the Invincibles of 2004. And the new centreback scored eight goals, which was mind-blowing. With his feet, too, not just his head.
I thought : What a warrior !
A young team, with Oxlade-Chamberlain, Frimpong and Coquelin and some more experienced players like Benayoun, should make it an entertaining match tonight.
Oxlade is a dynamic player, very two-footed, capable of scoring memorable goals.
In the last five years I’ve become rather fond of the obvious and today it’s time to state the obvious : Arsenal need a fit Vermaelen and a fit Jack Wilshere.
Spinal players are important. Against Stoke, there were long periods, dismal 20-minute periods , when nothing was happening. It was a weird thing to watch and a friend remarked on it to me last night. If Wilshere and Vermaelen had been there, the Stoke game would not have been so patchy and dull. As you know, football is about players.
BOLTON have lost seven of their nine Premier League games this season.
Manager Owen Coyle says he will make about eight changes to his regular team for tonight\’s Fourth Round tie.