BBC Football Pundit Lauds Arsenal Defender’s Canny ‘Knack’

Garth Crooks has praised the goal scoring form of Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen following the centre-half's goal at the weekend.

The talismanic Belgian international scored at both ends of the pitch during Arsenal's draw with Fulham last week and was once again on the score sheet on Saturday against Wigan.

The aforementioned Football Focus pundit believes the 26-year-old has developed his goal scoring 'knack' by hard work and practice on the training pitch which is clearly paying dividends for Arsenal this season.

It was the 6ft 4inch centre-half's tenth Premier League goal for Arsenal, which means the former Ajax star surpasses the tallies of Gunners luminaries Emmanuel Petit and Sol Campbell. Crooks suggests Vermaelen's relative prolificacy is not by coincidence and is a credit to his endeavours on the training pitch.

"When centre-backs regularly score goals it is because they have worked at it and developed a knack." Crooks said of the Arsenal defender.

"For the second consecutive week Vermaelen has found the back of the net.

"Fortunately this week, he confined his goalscoring exploits to his team only after last week's own goal!"

Vermaelen scored Arsenal's second goal during their 4-0 victory over Wigan Athletic on Saturday to ensure the Gunners maintained their pursuit of a top four finish this season.