Thursday, 27th March, 2014
Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen believes that injuries to important players are not an excuse for his side’s dismal performances.
The Gunners lost 6-0 to Chelsea on Saturday and followed up with a 2-2 draw against Swansea City on Tuesday as they slid to fourth in the Premier League table, six points behind leaders Chelsea.
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Injuries to Theo Walcott, Mesut Ozil, Jack Wilshere, Laurent Koscielny and Aaron Ramsey have made things difficult for Arsene Wenger, but the Belgian international, who is disappointed after the draw against the Swans, feels that the long injury list does not justify the team’s poor run of form.
"I don't think that injuries are an excuse”, Vermaelen told Arsenal’s official website.
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"Of course we're missing players, important players as well but we've a big squad with good players so that shouldn't be the reason.
"It's difficult to say [how we let Swansea back in the game]. We were pushing the whole game and we were playing in their half to get the first equaliser and then score to make it 2-1”, the skipper continued.
"They were all going back and we were attacking. We just had to make sure we didn't concede a goal on the counter-attack. It was just about being patient and in the end we managed to score twice but unfortunately they managed to score at the end as well.
"I don't know if there was any lack of confidence in the team. We were pushing the whole game and we had most of the possession."
Arsenal now face Manchester City this weekend and will be looking to make things right and clinch an important three points at the Emirates Stadium.
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