Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has praised the impact of the new assistant manager Steve Bould, who has become the replacement for Pat Rice. The long serving assistant manager decided to step down from his post at the end of last season, which has left a major void in the club.
The club are already suffering from the departure of David Dean many seasons ago. However, the Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen has said that he is extremely pleased with the impact of the new assistant manager Steve Bould, who has replaced Pat Rice efficiently in the first few weeks of the training.
Thomas Vermaelen has been linked with a move to Barcelona, but the 24-year-old defender quashed any rumours by saying that he would like to commit his future to Arsenal. He has said that this season has been extremely different because Arsenal have been making crucial signings in many areas of the pitch. Even though the departure of Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott has been spoken about, Thomas Vermaelen reckons that the arrival of players like Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski goes a long way into satisfying the needs of the first team even if Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott leave the club. Hopefully they can get off on the right foot in the Sunderland and Swansea City fixtures.
“Steve is really good to work with, especially for defenders as he has been a defender himself. He knows what it is all about and gives us a lot of tips. He works a lot on the shape of the team and that is very important, so I am very happy he came to work with the first team. He is very focused on details. A lot of players, because we are getting older, we know how to play. But he looks at details and the shape of your body and to be honest I am learning a lot from him,” said Vermaelen.