Author: GoonerJohn

Moyes expects Rooney to be a success as Captain

Former Manchester Everton manager David Moyes says that he expects Wayne Rooney to be a success as the new captain of the England national team. After the retirement of Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in successive weeks, England manager Roy Hodgson decided to appoint Rooney as the new captain of the national team. The 28-year-old, however, has divided opinions when it comes to his ability as an international footballer. Despite scoring a goal every other game for Manchester United, Rooney has struggled to replicate his success especially in big tournaments. During the World Cup 2014, the striker scored only his first goal at the World Cup in nine attempts.

Rooney has also received the captain’s armband at Manchester United after the departure of Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, and Nemanja Vidic all in one summer. Moyes, who is currently out of work after leaving United last season, has worked with Rooney at two clubs and he is someone who knows the striker extremely well. Roy Hodgson has players like Joe Hart and Gary Cahill who play in the defence and offer a more traditional option for the captain’s armband, but Moyes believes that the experience of Rooney when it comes to winning major titles will be a major boost.

“It is a terrific time for Wayne professionally and he is ready for it. At this time in his career, I am sure he wants to take on that extra responsibility the captaincies bring. It could make him an even better player. He wants to show that development, he has proved he is a top player, now he will want to show he can take on the responsibility and be a top captain. He may be taking the armbands at a difficult time, everyone knows Manchester United are going through a transitional period,” said Moyes.

 

Vermaelen Suffering Injury

 

Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen have been the only defenders that Barcelona has signed so far during this transfer window but the Spanish club has received disappointing news concerning their Belgium acquisition Vermaelen as he will not be able to train with his new club and teammates as he is suffering from an injury.

Thomas Vermaelen picked up this injury during the 2014 World cup when Belgium played against Russia and ever since then; Vermaelen has not managed to perform a single match. According to the medical staff of Barcelona, he should be able to play in official league games for his new club in around 2 weeks.

Injuries is a factor that has always troubled Vermaelen as he was only able to make 14 league appearances for Arsenal during the past season as well as losing his place in the starting lineup of Arsene Wenger to Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny.

Vermaelen was also limited on only making 1 appearance for his country Belgium in the World Cup due to his continuous struggles with fitness.

2 weeks out of action isn’t such a high amount of matches or significantly long period of time but this may be a sign of what’s to come for the Belgium defender. Vermaelen is a player that can offer calm and leadership presence for Barcelona but his injuries is something that Luis Enrique will have to consider before putting him in certain matches.

Only time will tell if Barcelona’s decision to sign Vermaelen was a good one or a bad one as the player is a gamble but having paid €15 million for the experienced defender is a costly gamble and especially more for a club that doesn’t have much liberty of risking games and losing points in their journey of not only winning the Spanish League but also the Champions League as well.

 

Kroos Has Excellent Year

 

This year simply could not have gone any better for Toni Kroos as the German midfielder was praised to be one of the best players during the 2014 World Cup as he made consistent performances representing his nation at the international stage which concluded with Germany lifting the 2014 World Cup trophy, something they have not accomplished since 1990.

This triumph arrives sometime after Bayern Munich lifted the Bundesliga league title as well as securing the German Cup and now to top it all off Toni Kross is seeking his way towards Real Madrid on a permanent deal.

The transfer has been announced and confirmed by the player himself as he revealed to the public that it’s a dream not only being able to lift the World Cup silverware but also going on and joining the Spanish side Real Madrid.

“We’ve finished the World Cup in the best way possible. Now I’m going to Madrid, so that’s two dreams achieved,” the 24-year-old said.

A transfer fee in the region of €25 million is expected that Real Madrid will have to pay in order to lure Toni Kroos away from the Allianz Arena at Bayern Munich and into the Santiago Bernabeu. Carlo Ancelotti does not want to fall behind in this summer transfer window as their rivals, Barcelona have already made a huge signing as they signed Luis Suarez for €94 million and now Ancelotti is trying to reinforce his squad for the upcoming season.

Toni Kroos played an influential role for Germany during the 2014 World Cup as he played every single minute of the tournament and managed on scoring twice as well as providing 8 assists for his teammates. During his time as a player of Bayern Munich he was paid £60,000-per-week but with the transfer to Real Madrid having already been announced, his salary is expected to go up.

 

Vermaelen’s Future Thrown into Further Doubt

Thomas Vermaelen’s future at Arsenal has been thrown into further doubt after manager Arsene Wenger refused to rule out the player leaving the club in the summer. The Belgian international is the captain of Arsenal, but he finds himself in a strange predicament where he is on the bench for most of the matches. The centre back partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have been impressive for most of the season. This has resulted in Vermaelen been called upon only when one of them has been unavailable.

Vermaelen’s current position has been in place for quite a long time. It started after the defender was being linked with a move to Barcelona. He was a £ 10 million signing for Arsenal a few years ago. Given the current partnership between Mertesacker and Koscielny, it looks highly unlikely that the 27-year-old will be able to get back into the first-team reckoning for next season. Hence, Arsenal are likely to sell him rather than keep unhappy players at the club. Ahead of the FA Cup final this weekend, Wenger has refused to rule out Vermaelen committing to a new contract and staying at the club.
Wenger’s own future has been in doubt due to the contract still not being signed. The Frenchman, though, has repeatedly stated that he wants to stay at Arsenal.

“I do not even know if Thomas Vermalean is fit to be in the squad at the moment. I cannot speak about the transfers today. Normally I would say no because he is under contract. But,” said Wenger about the future of Vermaelen. Barcelona are in demand for defender after losing Carlos Puyol to retirement. Due to their failure to get their targets like Thiago Silva and David Luiz, they could turn their attention towards Vermaelen in the summer.

LIMITED APPEARANCES

Vermaelen’s season has been limited to only a few numbers of appearances and this due to the fact that the Belgian defender is being eclipsed by the partnership that Per Mertesacker and Koscielny have formed throughout the entire campaign.

The lack of playing time has sparked a series of rumors involving Vermaelen wanting to leave Arsenal by the end of the current season when his contract expires.

Koscielny picked up an injury which has allowed Vermaelen on getting more playing time in the last few matches and Wenger stated that this is the chance for the Belgian defender to prove that he deserves a spot in his starting XI.

“We know Thomas has paid a heavy price for having Laurent and Per who worked well together. But he has an opportunity to show how good he is and I’m sure he will take it.” Wenger said.

 

The future of Vermaelen remains uncertain as he was close to signing with Napoli a few months ago and it does not look like his situation at the Emirates Stadium is going to change anytime soon but even though he is not going through the best of times with Wenger and Arsenal, he still wants the French coach to continue his role at the club.

“Everybody wants him to stay as long as he can. He’s been incredible what he’s done for this club and for the players as well. We would be really happy for him signing on for a few more years’’.

“The spirit is unbelievable in the team. We’ve worked a lot on our team shape and everybody knows their role in the team, everybody’s working for each other and that’s because there is a great team spirit. That’s the great improvement for us this season’’. Vermaelen said.

Depending on how Arsenal performs during the remaining matches of the Premier League and the FA Cup, it will be the deciding factor on whether or not Wenger remains in charge of Arsenal.

ARSENAL FIGHT ON

Arsenal are refusing to give up on the season despite being knocked out of the Champions League in the second consecutive season at the last 16 stage. Arsenal were knocked out after a 3-1 aggregate defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich. The tie was effectively over after the first leg since the Premier league outfit lost 2-0 at the Emirates. They managed to draw the second leg 1-1 at the Allianz arena, but it was not enough to knock out the reigning champions. Despite the setback, Thomas Vermaelen has reiterated that the Premier league and FA Cup remain as potential trophies available for the club.

Arsenal have not won a major trophy since 2005 and they are keen to end this trophy drought. Mikel Arteta recently stated that the club will transform in stature if they ended this trophy drought. They are in the best possible shape for this according to Vermaelen, who has been heavily linked with a move away from the club in the last few months. Arsenal are third in the league title race with only four points separating them from leaders Chelsea, while they recently made it into the semifinals of the FA Cup after beating Everton. They will face Wigan in the semifinals with a potential data against Sunderland waiting in the finals.

“The result (against Bayern) wasn’t great for us to go through, but you always need to take the positives out of it. We worked hard and that is what you need, the spirit in the team is very good. We are still up there in the Premier League, we are in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, you can feel the desire in the team that there is still something to play for. We can’t deny that we are the favourites anymore because we are the highest Premier League team, but this is the FA Cup,” said the Belgian.

 

ON HIS WAY

The Belgium defender of Arsenal, Thomas Vermaelen told Arsene Wenger that he wants to leave the club at the end of the current season during the season. Vermaelen has fallen out of favor for the coach who prefers placing Per Metersacker and Laurent Koscielny as the primary centre-defenders this has forced on having more time on the sidelines of the team than on the pitch.

 

Alex Kroes is the agent of Vermaelen and he revealed to the public the situation that his client is currently going through.

 

Alex Kroes told Le10 Sport: ‘Thomas has told Wenger that he wants to leave Arsenal this summer.

Kroes also went on talking about the rumors that were being spread around concerning Vermaelen and a possible move to Napoli.

‘Are the stories true? What you’ve read in the newspapers and on the internet is unfounded. Things that have been reported are not true, and I say this with full knowledge of the facts. Some outlets are beginning to speculate, but that’s all it is speculation. Now is not the time to talk.’

There still is nothing certain concerning the future of Vermaelen when he makes his way out of Arsenal but Serie A is starting to become his likely destination as Napoli and Inter Milan seem to be the clubs more interested in securing the services of the Belgium defender.

 

Inter Milan is closing in on Nemanja Vidic and the Italian side is interested in signing another defender from the Premier League. Patrice Evra will see his contract expiring in the summer and the Frenchman is a big target of Inter Milan but if the Italians are unable to sign him for any reason, Vermaelen is another viable option or alternative.

MOVING ON?

Thomas Vermaelen has had limited playing time in Arsenal this season and despite being linked with possible moves to Barcelona and Napoli, the Belgium defender is not worried about his future with the club and just wants to help out his club as that is everything he has on his mind.

 

“I don’t like to talk about my situation. It doesn’t matter. I am a player of Arsenal and I will do everything for this club. We will see what happens. It makes no sense to speculate about my future.

“We are still happy about our place in the table. To be title contenders we have to be very consistent. In the Premier League, everything is possible.” he told Belgian TV station Sporting Telenet.

Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have been the preferred options for Arsene Wenger in this season leaving Vermaelen with much time on his hands to think about his current situation and future.

 

Although he has stated his commitment with Arsenal if his current situation does not change then it will hurt his chances to secure his spot in the 2014 World Cup. Boss of Napoli, Rafael Benitez knows that he cannot concede much more goals if they want to continue their title charge in the Serie A.

 

Juventus seemed to have found their stride in this season as they are at the top of the Italian league Serie A with a comfortable advantage of over 8 points and Benitez is aware of the situation as he wants to continue the positive season he has been enjoying in charge of Napoli.

 

As.Roma is only a few points ahead of Napoli in the Italian league standings and Benitez is hoping to secure a Champions League spot in what is his 1st season in charge of Napoli. Raul Ablio and Federico Fernandez are the regular started in the defence of the Italian but the addition of Vermaelen will allow Benitez to rotate his players whenever needed.

VERMAELEN STAYS

Despite not being a 1st choice option for Arsene Wenger, Thomas Vermaelen said that he will continue being in Arsenal. Having only made a very limited number of appearances for the English club, he has fallen behind the pecking order of the French tactician who prefers choosing Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker ahead of the Belgium defender.

“I’m still confident I can play for this club,” he said. “I keep reading stories that I want to leave. But that’s not the case. I’m still focused on the team. I am always positive. In any case it is not about my situation. It’s what the team does and I am really happy that we’re top of the league.” Said Vermaelen.

The Belgium defender made his move to Arsenal in 2009 and made an immediate impact into the club as he scored 7 goals in 33 matches and being a rock solid defender as he helped the club clinch a 3rd place finish.

A achilles injury saw him unable to play up until the season of 2011-12 once more making impressive performances for the team that earned him in the captain armband around the same time that Van Persie left Arsenal but ever since he was pointed out as being the leader of the team, his appearances took a downhill fall.

His constant runs upfront in search of goals and the defensive abilities he showed some seasons ago just seemed to disappear and Wenger had no option left but choose Mertesacker and Koscielny ahead of Vermaelen. The defensive duo have proved to be a good choice for Arsenal as they are one of the clubs that has conceded less goals in this season but this leaves no place for Vermaelen.

The 28 years old defender already said he will not exit the club but considering the lack of matches and with the World Cup edging closer and closer, it might just be his best option to set his sights away from Arsenal.