• Premier League

Wenger fumes at Belgium over Vermaelen

ESPN staff
March 2, 2012
Thomas Vermaelen's fitness is a cause of concern for Arsene Wenger © PA Photos
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has accused Belgium of playing Thomas Vermaelen while injured, with the Gunners boss suggesting he will take the matter further.

Vermaelen played the full 90 minutes of Belgium's friendly in Greece on Wednesday against the advice of the Gunners.

"It looks like Belgium has made a decision which I still do not understand and we will look to see if we can put a complaint in,'' Wenger said. "Firstly they forced the player to travel, then they forced him to play 90 minutes after being injured and had a centre-back on the bench who did not play at all, in a friendly game knowing they do not even go to the European Championship. For me, that is difficult to understand.

"The friendlies are becoming more and more difficult to accept for everybody. I was always in favour of using the players for official games and I never asked any player not to go 100% for his country when it is a qualifier or a big competition, but the friendlies are becoming more and more difficult, especially in this period.

"For us it is vital we do not lose the players now. If you go into a period like that with players already touched (by injury) you have more chances to lose the players.

"We are the only team in the world who had that schedule so it is very difficult to understand that our players had to go injured to Greece and play 90 minutes for Belgium. That's frankly not defendable. It is disrespectful to the players as well as me.''

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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