I’m serious, it’s not easy being a Barca defender!
SAYS ARSENAL OLD BOY VERMAELEN
THERE are certain things that light up Thomas Vermaelen’s face as he talks about football and family in Barcelona and his return to London in the Champions League next week.
One is the video of his two young sons Raff, four, and Ace, two, jumping up and down in front of a televison screen on seeing their dad in the starting line-up to face Real Madrid in the
Clasico in December. Another is looking back on a career that encompassed Ajax, Arsenal and Barcelona — ‘three very beautiful clubs’, according to the elegant defender. And another is Lionel Messi. ‘What amazes me is that he does what he does every day,’ Vermaelen says. ‘I came here and thought that he maybe saves the best stuff for games, but he does it day-in, day-out.
‘He’s unbelievable in training. If you gamble that he’s going to go one way then he’ll go the other and when he comes at you on the diagonal at the speed he moves, it’s very difficult to stop.
‘You might know that he’s probably going to shoot off his left but he’s always quicker than you so knowing doesn’t help. He doesn’t get too emotionally involved with the player that’s marking or tackling him either. He never gets distracted.
‘He is just getting on with the job. It is pure talent and it all comes naturally. I think for him it doesn’t even feel special.’
Messi will be the biggest threat to Chelsea but do they have their own mini-Messi in the shape of Eden Hazard? Vermaelen is well placed to judge his Belgium team-mate.
‘There are similarities,’ he says. ‘They are both quite small with that low centre of gravity so they can turn and twist very quickly. They have that element of surprise in their game and they can move so fast.
‘And especially in the form he is in now, I saw the goal he scored recently against Watford, he’s a world- class player. To compare him to Messi is so difficult but he is up there with the very best.’
It’s clear that Vermaelen is an avid watcher of the game. Injuries have given him more time than he wanted to do that since he arrived from Arsenal in 2014 but when he played eight full games consecutively over Christmas he reminded us what an impeccable defender he is.
He was faultless in the Clasico as Barca won 3-0 at the Bernabeu and that reaction to him starting the game from his two young boys went viral in the Barca dressing room.
‘My wife (Polly) filmed it,’ he says of the moment they spring up from the floor in front of the telly and begin shouting ‘Daddy’ as his picture appears in the starting line-up on the screen.
Now 32, Vermaelen (below) should be fit to be in contention to face Chelsea after recovering from a hamstring strain, though Gerard Pique will start ahead of him if he overcomes a knee problem.
The Belgian’s ability to anticipate and distribute so cleanly makes him perfect for the way Barcelona defend. It’s a misunderstood art, he says.
‘Some people have the wrong idea about what it’s like to defend for Barcelona. They think it’s an easy job because the team are all about attack. But the demands they have here, and with the previous coach Luis Enrique as well, are very high.
‘The fact that we play so much in the other team’s half, that doesn’t just happen by itself. It’s because we are keeping the opposition under constant pressure. And defending high means that you have 50 metres of pitch at your back.
‘And the playing out from defence, too. Sometimes it would just be easier to kick it forward but that’s not the way we play.’
The unprovoked mention of Enrique is interesting in light of his elevated position on Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich’s wanted list. Vermaelen’s respect and affection for his former coach is striking.
‘I wasn’t always playing but the relationship with him was very good,’ he says. ‘The way he talks to players is excellent. He knows how to make a player feel right. If you asked me about the best managers I have worked with I would always include him.’
Abramovich has long craved a Barca- style Chelsea. Could Luis Enrique bring as radical a change there as Pep Guardiola has at City?
‘I think so,’ he says. ‘I think it would be similar to what you are seeing with Guardiola at City. It might take some time but I think it can work very well.’
Vermaelen could benefit directly from Guardiola’s influence if a supremely confident Kevin De Bruyne inspires Belgium against England at the World Cup.
‘He is a clever player and his game suits the way Guardiola plays. He’s technically very good with an unbelievable passing range and a great shot,’ says Vermaelen. ‘He is looking like the player of the season.’
Chelsea should have Alvaro Morata, whom Vermaelen knows from La Liga, in action against Barcelona. ‘He impressed me when he was at Madrid and Juventus. He’s a complete striker,’ he says.
If Vermaelen does start next week, will Raff and Ace be watching? ‘They know I play football and they are excited to see me on TV.
‘But they are too young and sometimes they confuse me with another player. Which is fine — as long as it’s Messi!’