Vermaelen & the case for the defence

The arrival of defender Thomas Vermaelen at Camp Nou is a further sign that Luis Enrique is determined to address Barcelona’s defensive weaknesses as well as adding to their attacking strengths. The Belgium international reunites with former Ajax teammate Luis Suarez and could slot in alongside Frenchman Jeremy Mathieu as the new boss signals his intention to shore up a vulnerable backline.

Tata Martino did much to change the way the Catalans played last season, but one area of concern he did little to address was in defence. The rearguard’s reliability was already on the wane under Tito Vilanova as Carles Puyol faded from view before eventually retiring. Gerard Pique and midfielder Javier Mascherano, operating as a makeshift central defender, at times made a shaky pairing.

A fit Vermaelen at his best is a logical choice for Barcelona, who have lacked both the leadership qualities and calm assurance provided by Puyol in his heyday. A virtual ever-present in his debut season for Arsenal after moving to North London from the Netherlands, Vermaelen is also good in the air, surprisingly quick on his feet and not averse to scoring spectacular goals, often from distance.

Hailed by Arsene Wenger as a defensive rock, Vermaelen forged a solid partnership with Laurent Koscielny at the Emirates Stadium, despite struggling with intermittent Achilles injuries. As his spells on the sidelines grew longer and more frequent, however, Vermaelen was overtaken in the Gunners’ defensive pecking order by Per Mertesacker and increasingly became a peripheral figure.

Unusually, Vermaelen has never played senior football in his home country, but has been a stalwart for Belgium, made captain in 2009 and gaining selection for the World Cup in Brazil. His tournament lasted just 31 minutes, however, as a troublesome hamstring strain forced him off against Russia. Barcelona were seemingly fully alive to the injury since he passed his Camp Nou medical, but acknowledge Vermaelen will not start the season.

Arsenal fans appear ambivalent about Vermaelen’s departure, not least because the club’s skipper made just seven appearances last season. They favour their team’s Koscielny-Mertesacker pairing and regard his sale for €19m as good business by Wenger, who paid just €6m to lure him from Ajax five years ago.

The response from fans of La Blaugrana has also been muted, partly because they would have preferred Mats Hummels or the young Brazilian Marquinhos, who were both out of Barca’s price range and are likely to remain at Borussia Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain respectively. There is also some scepticism that the Belgian may be the latest in a series of Arsenal flops to arrive at Camp Nou with Alex Song, Alexander Hleb, Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit seen as falling into that category.

Like Mathieu, Vermaelen is a left-sided defender who can also play at left-back, but he has greater aerial ability than his new teammate and he is a genuine central defender, a position that has been crying out to be filled at Camp Nou. Vermaelen is Barca’s sixth summer signing and, as Enrique looks to make his mark, may not be the last.

La Liga - Club News