Former Arsenal and Barcelona defender, Thomas Vermaelen has said Argentine forward, Messi made him a better player. According to Thomas, Messi is one of the best there’s ever been and it was unbelievable to work with him. He added that he was stunned by some of the things the tricky baller did in training when they were teammates. On Messi, “I’m very happy that I could play with one of the best there’s ever been,” “It was an unbelievable experience. He eventually becomes one of your team-mates, but at the beginning he’s a big star. “During my years there, sometimes I was still surprised by some things he did in training and in games. It was just a nice experience to see these things; what he can do with the ball.” On his fitness issues, “It’s true that I had some problems in the past,” “How do you face it? You just get on with it and try to overcome every problem because I knew that when I was fit, I could still play. “I still felt good when I didn’t have any problems, so that’s the reason I kept going to overcome these problems.” On his new club, Vissel Kobe, “I feel very good about the country; the adaptation has gone very well,” “All the people are very helpful, so I think it is easy to adapt to the club and the life here. I know a few players, so that makes it easier too. “When Andreas came here I said, 'That’s a very nice move, going to Japan where there’s a lot of culture. It’s a nice country.’ For me, that was a big part of my decision too. There is a big tradition here, a lot of culture.” “Kobe is a nice city but my family is not here yet,” “It’s not like I’ve been visiting so many places. Firstly, it’s been about adapting to the team and then I will explore more outside. “The club has helped very well and it’s been very easy to adapt outside football. That’s very important for your mind because you can focus and concentrate on your job. “It’s made it easier for me to adapt and that’s made easy for me to play my football.” “The J-League is a good league and a very attractive league. The teams want to play with ideas and there are good players, technical and quick players. The level is good in Japan. Of course, there are always things you can improve but I’m quite surprised how good the league is and quite positive.”
