Quote Originally Posted by Darth Vela View Post
Thing is though, Vermalen has exactly what we need, those leadership qualities and grit that everyone talks about, plus he's pretty handy in the air, strong and has a hammer of a left foot. Sure, he has his flaws like his positioning isn't perfect and he can leave us exposed when he goes upfield but those are worth it for what else he gives us imo.
For a defender, a nack of leaving things exposed at the back is quite a critical flaw, despite all the marauding he may bring to the team.

Vermaelen is a bit overrated IMO. Bit like the Eduardo situation really. The heart grows fonder in absence and all that.

I don't doubt Vermaelen is made of the right stuff but opinion of him is based on Autumn 2009 when he scored a freak amount of goals and had his honeymoon period. He's still got it all to prove.