Per Mertesacker believes new boy Lukas Podolski has got what it takes to be a Premier League success with Arsenal.
The gigantoGerman is recovering from his ankle injury but was named in the provisional Germany squad for Euro 2012 where he’s likely to play alongside his soon to be Arsenal colleague. And he reckons Podolski’s confident nature will ensure he settles in and produces the goods for Arsenal.
Speaking to Arsenal Player, Per played up his teamwork qualities, saying, “He is very confident. When he feels he has to be there for the team and when we needed a goal he was always there. He was always one of the best players on the pitch and nothing could take him down. He is so confident and that is what I like.”
And aside from that Podolski will be expected to take some of the goalscoring burden off Robin van Persie, and Mertesacker is sure he can do that.
“He is a fantastic striker,” he said. “Everywhere he has played he has scored a lot of goals. He is very good on his first [touch] when he has the ball in front of him, that is a big quality and very good for us.
“I think he has good physical power and that is what is needed in the Premier League. He is very quick too. It is a challenge for him but he can cope with it.”
Meanwhile, January arrival, youngster Thomas Eisfeld, says that Per has been a big help in his first months in England.
“The football in England is quicker and more physical than in Germany,” he said. “I have spoken to Per Mertesacker a lot, he has given me a lot of advice.
“He is a good guy. He has told me about life in London, and how to be on the pitch, he has been a big help.”
What a guy. He really puts the F in BFG.
Speaking of M’vila, he is a good player.
*trademarks Lucas PoGOALSKI pun*
Lukarse PoGoalski
lookwhohas fourgoalskit
great to see ze germanz settling in.
I had the thought a while back that it wasn’t working with so many players from nicer climates. Germany is just like English weather. and they like beer lots. so it really isn’t a big step over the channel.
the Dutch lads have always done well at arsenal too. but now we have two German internationals. can’t go wrong there.
hoping the BFG has a good euros and makes it back to n5 in one piece.
Glad the Germans are being so welcomed to Arsenal. I think the Bundesliga is a huge talent pool Arsenal need to be more involved in. BFG is a great guy and Arsenal are lucky to have him and he seems like a great ambassador to welcome in some more of his countrymen (Gotze, Reus, etc) who want to play for the best team in the EPL! GLad to hear some news about Eisfeld. I watched Koln play Bayern Munich last week and even though Koln got murdered Podolski was very good. He’s a very strong stiker like Tevez and Drogba… Read more »
forgot to add… Arsenal uber alles!
Thought I’d mention this phrase has fascist overtones from the Nazi era so best not start using that on message boards and in the stadium!
@eric blair
Deutschland uber alles is still the German national anthem.
It has a much broader meaning than English speakers think.
Deutschland Uber Alles is not the name of the anthem, and the verse containing those words was removed after WW2 because of it’s association with Nazism. Nobody but the neo-nazis sing that verse today.
English speakers don’t generally think of the German anthem as having evil connotations – generally because “Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles” are the only words they know, and as national anthems go, it’s pretty much par for the course. Most of us don’t even know that the first verse – the one basically saying “Poland, Austria, Czechland – basically all Germany, yeah?” – isn’t really sung anymore.
Puuh, loads of smattering here, get your facts straight. Eric blair is right though.
BFG has to be the best nickname for a gooner ever
Followed by Verminator…?
Surely Theo “Mayhem” Walcott?
…what do you mean I just made that up?
What about…..
Alex Dong?
i thought little mozart was!!!
but i like sir SZCZ a lot
LORD ROBIN OF PERCY
I really hope he’s more Rosicky than Reyes. Realises he needs to put the effort in if he’s going to reap the rewards of playing for our great club
Don’t remind me of Reyes!
Relax, gays. Gary is a pundit now, so he can’t “Neville” Podolski out of the league like he was allowed to do Reyes.
i don’t think we’re signing M’VIlla :(.
eh. bastard newspapers got my hopes up
I don’t think it’s over, usually either the other clubs manager would come out and say nothing has happend or the player would. I know this is just me being another hopeful gooner but I would say its deffinatly over, I mean there must be some truth when every website and newspaper says something is happening right? Even the podolski
(carrying on from above) deal to a whole to be confirmed right?
According to the player, we’re also interested in Anderlecht’s Lucas Biglia. Don’t know a tremendous deal about this guy, but he’s listed as a DM, and is an Argentinian international. If we do end up bringing M’Vila (which I’m all for), then this link could be a smokescreen… or the other way ’round. Make of it what you will.
That said- bring more Germans.
Be patient, I think it all will depend on what happens this weekend (and I think the Julien Laurens tweet hinted to this as well). Inter are in 6th and need a lot of help to finish in the Champions League, but if they do I suspect they’ll make a strong push for M’Vila themselves. I also would not be surprised if Real Madrid made a move for him. But if we dont make Champions League we wont stand a chance. Therefore I think Biglia is the backup plan. If we miss out on the Champions League, Biglia would be… Read more »
He seemed more like a luxury buy than essential to me. We’ve already got two outstanding DMs in Song and Arteta, surely?
The Big Mert really is a top-class professional. Something about him really screams ‘winner’. Same can be said for Arteta. Really brought a touch of professionalism and ‘winners mentality’ to the team last summer…and it looks like it’ll be the same again with M’Vila.
You can see what Wengers been thinking, remove the unprofessional players such as Eboue, Bendtner and Arshavin and bring in these players who want to win. As much as Eboue, Bendtner and Arshavin had the talent, they just didn’t seem too arsed about the team sometimes.
Aye BFG is topclass, don´t see why he gets so much stick.
Probably because of his time at Real Madrid according to that Robbie Savage, likely still befuddled from this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zr1DawZ3QhQ
I personally don’t understand all the rubbish about him being too slow. He’s a centerback for fuck’s sake, all he needs is a bit of skill and lots of intelligence, which Per tends to show, along with calm and organisation.
Here’s a tip: If the German national manager chooses Mertesacker instead of one of the other fantastic CBs available, there’s probably a very good reason for it.
Mini-rant over. Go Mertesacker, to me you’re pretty close to PERfect.
(please forgive that joke)
When he’s fit next season it’s gonna be very interesting to see what happens. Because for me Kos and Vermaelen are our best centre-back partnership.
Yes, BFG is a great organiser – but he’s too slow, and too easily muscled off the ball. Just look at Norwich and Chelsea away if you don’t believe me.
Hmmm, didn’t they win 5-3 at Chelsea? Just saying.
Just look at the Norwich home game, poor poor defending and throw the Milan away game in there and you’ll see what he brings.
Am I the only one not drinking the vermaelin kool-aide? The guy is a liability. I’ll take koscielny and per as my first choice.
I get where you’re coming from Frog. I like his attitude but he does seem error prone. Once Per settled in he gave some calmness and organisation to our defence. Problem is because of some errors when he first joined and the fact that he’s big, lanky, ginger and German, the media have written him off.
Vermaelen is a beast. It’s true that he has made a couple of mistakes in the last months, but a big part of his criticism is unfair. He’s not at fault for a lack of cover when he goes forward, that’s the job of our midfield. And for every error he has made, he has won us games nearly single handed (for example newcastle or everton where he was immense). And his attitude is simply fantastic. For me he provided one of the best moments of our season when, after having scored an own goal agains fulham, he simply refused… Read more »
He’s not too slow, he’s as fast as a CB should be who’s playing his damn position correctly! I love Per because he actually stays back on defense to cover while Sagna, Gibbs, Kos, TV5 etc are all bombing forward trying to attack and leaving us very vulnerable on the counter attack. *cough Norwich cough
Cough Norwich? Some good irony there.
Koscielny has been too good to drop lately, shocking as this may sound it is vermaelen who is fighting for his place as starting CB as things stand. Then again, in a season where we find ourselves involved in the thick of most competitions come February, this little “issue” will prove a blessing!
I dont understand the criticism that BFG gets. Yeah he is surprisingly average in the air and not as strong as I thought. However his world class quality of being in the right place and the right time coupled that with cool, calm and compose defending is a welcome asset to the Arsenal back four. He has a fantastic attitude and leadership qualities. Verminator though has been surprisingly error prone the last few weeks. Perhaps slightly unlucky but all the blame cannot be laid on him with the terrible midfield cover. Koscielny though has been a revelation and I’m shocked… Read more »
Agreed, spot on!
just read that he’s also been good for eisfeld as well. arsenal.com/news/reserves-news/eisfeld-mertesacker-has-helped-me-settle . that seems to be one of the less visible benefits of buying experience
‘Puts the F in BFG’
As in, Big Friendly Giant or Big Fucking German? Let’s hope the the former
Big foot german?
Well cant deny the big feet everyone here has seen it.
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Letter to mert.”thanks for the part you played in poldis’ move and eliminating us from the F.A , although we regret to say that your services will no longer be required……yep, seems your work is just about done here. Run along now…or jog on (you do this only too well)”
Yours truly, arsene wenger
Calling Arseblog Tech Op – urgent help needed. I have read as far as the 26th comment and as yet Aaron Ramsey hasn’t been blamed for anything. Surely he was responsible for the BFG’s ankle knack at the very least.
Well thanks for bringing it up. Now that that’s out of the way, when are we going to sign Gary Cahill or Chris samba?
You know the rules (you made em). Get your coat son.
Sorry. Three day ban it is. Ill be back.
Meatsack is a good choice for our center back selections. He’s a yin to TV5 and Kos’ yang, as they tend to be ball hawking, stopper types. Mert fits a sweeper role perfectly.
We’re not going to play an off-side trap with him, but with his length an dropped back, you don’t necessarily need to.
I look forward to seeing a similar improvement with Mert that we saw in Kos’s year 1 to year 2 growth. He knows now what to expect and I think he’ll improve strength-wise in order to deal with the rugged forwards of the league.
What’s Podolski’s position and how does he fit in the team? He seems to be more comfortable as a central striker than on the wing, where he plays for Germany. His strength, first touch, finishing, and speed would all be best used up front. Wenger doesn’t usually play left-footers on the left-wing, either, so I think Lukasz will be our #2 striker. Or we will tweek the formation and play van Persie alongside Podolski. So who will play on the left? Benayoun will most likely be gone. Gervinho, Ox, and Ryo all could play there or on the right, but… Read more »
Dempsey is a good player, no doubt…but not sure how he’d fair on a better team per se. Podolski has starred for Germany, with all due respect to Fulham & USA, that’s a harder nut to crack. Not to go off on a tangent, but seldom does Arsene buy from other Premier League teams. The bulk of the current squad came from elsewhere. Aside from Arteta & Benayoun, he’s only made a handful of signings from other EPL clubs. The only ones that spring to mind at the moment are Gallas (which was a swap), Sol (free), Silvestre (pretty sure… Read more »
I think I might starting reading the arseblog news through the sloppy google translation, it’s just too damn funny, I never thought arseblog could get any funnier but it has. Here are a couple of the quotes from this article.
“He believes that Podolski’s innate self-confidence of character to let him adapt to heat and light for Arsenal.”
“He is a good guy and he introduced me to a life in London, also gave me a lot how to do it on the floor to get a chance to play for me”
“how to do it on a floor”
oh god, my sides xD
[…] other news, Per Mertesacker has hailed the arrival of Lukas Podolski, saying: He is a fantastic striker. Everywhere he has played he has scored a lot of goals. I think he has […]
Podo n robin wil terorise defences with der foot next season