Arsenal relishing proving their critics wrong

Published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 22:23

ARSENAL centre-back Thomas Vermaelen is relishing the chance to have the last laugh on the club's critics this season after being written off in the Champions League and domestic title race.

The battle at the top of the Barclays Premier League was previously seen as a two-horse race between Chelsea and Manchester United until Arsene Wenger's men put together four-successive wins to get within two points of the summit, then they were tipped to crash out of Europe this week but overturned a first-leg deficit with a 5-0 win against Porto.

"We're been written off twice already I think," said Vermaelen. "We're still in the race for both things, for the league and the Champions League, but you have to stay focused on every game and the next game is Hull City. You have to win every game.

"We will see at the end of the season. You have to focus every game and we will see where we are at the end."

Arsenal's resurgence has been without Robin van Persie after the Holland forward damaged ankle ligaments in November, while against Porto they were missing the influence of skipper Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas is rated as "50-50" by Wenger to face Hull at the KC Stadium at the weekend.

"Cesc is really important for us but we have a lot of good players in the squad who can fill in his place," Vermaelen said.

The emphatic 5-0 victory over Porto came courtesy of Nicklas Bendtner's hat-trick, three days after he missed four clear-cut chances in the victory over Burnley.

"As a striker you have to stay confident all the time because there are some games when you don't score and that was the case on Saturday," Vermaelen said. "Against Porto he responded brilliantly. He didn't only score three goals, he won a lot of headers and that is important for the team.

"He doesn't struggle with confidence and that is a good thing for a striker. You always need a good centre-forward who scores goals for the team, he did that against Porto and I hope he will score a lot of goals in the future. He is still young, He has a lot of qualities – he's here at Arsenal so that means he has a lot of qualities."

Andrey Arshavin, who set up three goals against Porto, does not mind who Arsenal get in the quarter-finals. He told his official website: "Honestly, It doesn't matter for me who gets there. Therefore, I do not want to make any predictions.

"We should play our own football against any opponent."

Emmanuel Eboue, who scored the fourth goal against Porto, is also determined to go one better than last season when they reached the semi-finals.

"Last year and this year is not the same because this year we are more comfortable and I think if we continue to play together like against Porto then why can we not do something?" he said.

Eboue was jeered by his own fans last season but is now a cult hero and wants to end the club's five-year trophy drought. "I never said I wanted to move," he said. "I have got two more years with Arsenal and I feel very well here."