Source: SKY_Sports
Van Persie praises Vermaelen
// A bit of a hack but it works// The article snippet is wrapped onto a second line, even when #article-sub is emptyif( $("div#article-sub").children().length == 0 ) {$("div#article-sub").remove();} Arsenal forward Robin van Persie has admitted he is happy to be playing for the same team as Thomas Vermaelen.[LNB] Van Persie was angered by Vermaelen's no-nonsense defending during the pre-season Ajax Tournament two years ago but has enjoyed playing alongside the Belgian since his move to Emirates Stadium over the summer.[LNB]Vermaelen has settled into English football quickly and continued his goalscoring form with a brace against Wigan on Saturday.[LNB]Recalling his spat with Vermaelen, Van Persie said: "He is hard and played very strong on me physically and I was a little bit upset about that. So I told him in nice words![LNB]"Now I'm happy he is on my side. In training everyone mixes up so I play against him. He is tough and it's good because I am training against proper defenders."[LNB]Vermaelen showed with his two goals against Wigan that he is a threat in the air and from open play, and Van Persie believes it has a lot to do with being trained at Ajax.[LNB]Technical"The first one showed he is very, very strong from corners and free-kicks and that is very important for us," said the Dutch striker.[LNB]"Even if we play badly we can always score from set-pieces.[LNB]"I would have been proud of his second goal.[LNB]"He is raised in Holland. I am not saying every Dutch player is good technically but when you are raised in Holland - especially at Ajax, Feyenoord or PSV - you are brought up getting the ball, moving it first touch, move again, pass, move.[LNB]"He was at Ajax since 15 so it is in his system for a long, long time."[LNB]No negativityVan Persie insists there is a positive atmosphere surrounding the Arsenal camp after recent games were overshadowed by other stories including the Eduardo diving controversy and Emmanuel Adebayor's behaviour against his former club.[LNB] "It is cleared," Van Persie insisted. "I'm at the training ground every single day and I don't feel any sort of negativity at all.[LNB]"Everyone is happy, everyone is focused, everyone works very hard. Of course we were disappointed with the two losses in the league but besides that there are no big worries."[LNB]
