Per Mertesacker believes he’s now an integral part of Arsene Wenger’s squad and insists he’ll be staying in London having put last year’s tough debut season behind him.
The German international has made 42 starts this season, compared to Vermaelen and Koscielny’s 25 and 19 respectively, and firmly established himself as Arsene Wenger’s most trusted centre-back with a stream of steady performances.
It’s quite a turnaround for a player who struggled with the pace, physicality (and in the case of the Stadium of Light) pitches of the Premier League last term and saw the press turn on him by almost immediately link him with a return to Germany.
Speaking after the match against Wigan, the BFG told Sport1.de that he was confident of remaining a Gunner next season and beyond.
“I really think so. I don’t think they want to get rid of me after the season I’ve had here. I’ve become an integral part of the team and earned respect.
“Sometimes you have to be confident in yourself and just let the press write what they want. It’s quiet in this regard and that’s a good sign.”
Turning his attention to Sunday’s match with Newcastle, Mertesacker also underlined his determination to see Arsenal finish the job of qualifying for the Champions League.
“We must strive in the last game against Newcastle to really give everything again. It’s been a long, gruelling season, but we’ll do everything possible to win there.”
Aside from his crazy 15-minute spell which resulted in a red card in the win away at West Bromwich Albion it’s fair to say that Mertesacker has caught the eye by not catching the eye. He’s been a steady, reliable, unflashy figure – an Arteta of the defence if you will – who has proved many of his critics wrong this season. Dare Arseblog News suggest he could even be an outside bet for player of the season…
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Thanks to @SiuFay for the heads up.
BFG rules. End of.
It’s a bit arrogant for the BFG to come out and suggest he is respected and an integral member of the team. That said, I believe he has become an integral member of the team and is well respected by the rest of the team.
It may just be a German thing to be more straightforward and less coy. And for what it’s worth, he isn’t exactly wrong.
To say he’s integral would not be wrong, as the number of games played shows. To say he’s “earned respect” just indicates that he feels his teammates have noticed his performances and approved. For all we know they probably went over and told him that he was playing well, so its not really arrogant of him.
I think his comment about ‘earning respect’ is an indicator that his attitude is absolutely spot on. If you are struggling in your performances and thus people stop respecting you, the only way to change that is to earn the respect back through performances on the pitch. If only numerous previous players (Arshavin, Chamakh, etc) could have learnt that too…
Not only his teammmates…even the manager & his assistant have gone out to say to him. Playing 42 games aseason in Arsenal colours….if you are shit, that certainly wont happen and Per is definitely NOT!!
It’s not arrogance to speak the truth.
in general, yes…….. but truth is a relative concept…… what you may belive to be the truth might just be over-confidence………. but this bullshit doesn’t apply here…….. mertesacker’s been truly brilliant this season…….. i am loving how this big players like mertesacker and giroud have these unflashy style of playing….. per mostly goes about his job in a no-nonsense style of play……. whereas seeing girod’s size on first impression you expect him to keep smashing the ball in the net or over it…….. instead he has these delicate touches and layoffs that are absolutely brilliant to watch……..
People forget that these comments are replies to questions posed by journos.
Reporter: Arsene, are you focused on the job?
Arsene: No, im more interested in the classical arts from the Ming dynasty era China…*rolls eyes*
next day
EXCLUSIVE!!: Arsene hints on an IMMINENT move to PSG as he is frustrated by life in England.
Exactly my thought
True. Here in France the good thing is about newspapers/websites is that most of them show the full transcript of the interview but sadly it never stop cuntos (wink wink blog) to get wrong ….
Edit : to get IT wrong……
I don’t think they forget, they just choose to be stupid
The translation is a bit off there. He isn’t saying he’s integral to the team which would mean Arsenal are fucked without him, but he is saying he firmly established himself as a first XI player this season.
It *might* be arrogant to do that if he hadn’t specifically been asked by a reporter about where he saw himself next season and how he saw his place in the Arsenal team given the rumours (? – perhaps in German press) about his future.
Hahahaha – good one!
The context of his comment is important. In this interview, he was prodded about the press rumours that Arsenal was trying to get rid of him in the summer. Probably the key report, which was picked up at the time in the German media, was from the Daily Mail back in March of this year which declared that Wenger “plans to ditch Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker” after “losing patience” with them. His response, I think, was very reasonable. He disputed the rumours, saying quite rightly that he’s become a firm fixture in the line-up and he didn’t think that… Read more »
Bendtner moment. I like that!
R55MMX, I’m going to guess you were being sarcastic…if so, well played.
Nah, as our back 4 is BFG and……and has been all season, I’d say hes simply stating the truth.
I saw what you did there. You’re not a bad lad really, are you? Just misunderstood 148 times.
The reason the joke fell flat was that nobody was actually claiming that Mertesacker’s comments were arrogant. Generally when you are trying to engage in satire, you need to have somebody or something to satirise.
Probably defender of the season, but Cazorla is player of the season by a long way.
I back Theo for player of the season,how can someone so shit get such brilliant stats.The mind boggles.
Yeah, Theo has been good too. He would be my second choice.
The numbers dont lie
Except they kind of do. I’m somewhere in the middle of the “Theo is shit” to “Theo is brilliant” continuum, but I certainly think the stats we associate with him tend to only reveal one side of his game (the goal scoring, assist making side). There’s a whole other side of Theo – the inconsistent, anonymous side – that’s all too common as well.
The sad reality of football is that defenders rarely win ‘player of the year’ or other such gongs. To be fair, there really should be a separate award for defensive players.
John Terry is a defender and he wins Cunt of the season every single year.
I think van Quisling has a good shout for that this year.
1: Transferring to Man U
2: Claiming he’ll always be a Gooner and then singin ‘Glory Glory Man United’ in public.
3: Hugging Ferguson like the cunt he is. So disrespectful to Wenger, the man who was basically his creator.
4: Scoring the highest number of goals that should have been disallowed due to offside or some other infringement.
Top, top, top cunt as Wenger would say.
The way he was talking about Ferguson the other day was disgusting. “He’s made me who I am today, I am so grateful today. I have improved so much in the last year…”
Seriously? And what about the 7 years prior? What about the man who taught you since you were a kid? The guy who helped you be good enough for that Scottish arsehole to want to buy you in the first place?
We’ll give it to van Quisling, but Terry can go up to collect the award if he changes from his suit into his Chelski strip…
The Cunt is what he is today because of Ferguson? I think he’s right in two ways:
1) Fergie’s approach to him last summer turned him into a cunt
2) Under Fergie he has regressed from scoring 37 goals in a season to only managing 29 with one game left.
So yes, he’s a cunt and a worse striker this year and Fergie was the key.
They should make that award official!!
you’ve clearly never met pete couchman.
Chris should win post of the day for that one. Classic . . Cunt of the year
Why can I not vote more than once for thumbs up to this comment?
This year a certain Dutch skunk takes it hands down.
I really like BFG he’s been outstanding all season
Chris thats the funniest thing i’ve heard all day, can’t stop laughting!!!!!
we’ve got a big friendly, karaoke singing and rather eloquent German – a big fucking Geeeeerman
I love the Mertetackler.
He is liked a stretched out Lee Dixon.
Lets have him race Walcott. Wonder what the difference would be over 100 meters.
Fun fact:
in WC 2010 Per was clocked to have had the second or third fastest sprint of the tournament.
he’s not slow once he gets his legs going.
…and once he does get going he’s fucking hard to stop.
He should try the odd Vieira charge through the middle. Those defenders would bounce off him if they were stupid enough to get in his way.
Mertesacker would have already got himself into position to intercept and stop Walcott before Theo’s legs had started moving.
If there is to be a play-off. It has to be at a neutral ground. Who wants White Hart Lane?
Tell them what they could have won!
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. 1 more to go
Yep, let’s make sure we do our job, and then we can find out if Chelsea managed to do theirs. Though the idea of a playoff game is kind of alluring I think I’d rather see us snatch a third goal in added time to win third place outright after they have just drawn 0-0. Wouldn’t be good for the blood pressure at the time, but oh the satisfaction of stealing 3rd off of them at the death!!!
I think it would be fitting. They are, after all, merely a mid-table club with a bucket of money.
He has become an integral part of the team, one of the first names down on the teamsheet. I have always liked him, even during some dodgy moments last season. His interception rate must be one of the highest in the league and positional play is first class…seems to have a passion for the club aswell. In Per we trust…I loved when he walked of the pitch on Tuesday and the fans by the tunnel sang the BFG song and he loved it…
Koscielnesacker has grown into one of the best partnerships in the league. Who’d of thought that 18 months ago?
Arsene created Van Quisling??…..oh, so thats what he meant by ‘father figure’….
Judging by what alot of ex players have said, Arsene has been a busy boy!
Per is basically the Dennis Bergkamp of defence (aside from the fact that DB10 was actually one of the fastest players at the club), he almost doesn’t need electric pace because he reads the game faster than everyone else. You try to pass to an open team-mate and the BFG is there before the ball!
Kos works so well with him because he watches Per and reacts to his positioning rather than trying to do it all on his own.
I already voted him for the player of the season.
Good on you. So did I. Defenders hardly get recognised for the essential things they do and without the solidity of Mertesacker, wins would become draws and draws losses. We have the 2nd best defence this season FFS! What an improvement on last year!
BIG FUCKING GERMAN! WE’VE GOT A BIG FUCKING GERMAN!
Per-fectly Per-forming Per with great Per-sonality.
He has their respect because he is the fines collector! Still to see a tax revenue authority who can be told….come collect your taxes later! When they want their tax, they want it now! That change room must be in total respect of the BFG aka Fines Collector
Could we have some more Germans please, Mr Wenger, sir..
Does anybody else think that Mertesacker would potentially be a great captain for Arsenal? All the squad seem to like and respect him, he’s virtually ever present in the team and he is vocal, confident and always has a good attitude.
Mertesacker over John”Changes suits faster than he can run” Terry anyday, all day. WTF is the man’s problem eh? He was all up in that Europa League title like it was Wayne Bridge’s Missus. Glory hunting cunt bag!
Haha he’s a proper cunt, he nearly knocked lampard of the fucking podium the prick
Never take the press seriously with arsenal news…apparently koscielny was shithouse in his first season and struggled with the pace of the game.. even though he was clearly our best defender that year (djourou an outside shot before he did his shoulder).
People are too quick to judge. Only a month or two ago I saw people on here attacking theo for being lazy after he got his contract. I dont see any of those same haters now and couldnt even fathem the thought of theo not starting this weekend.
I’ve posted this before, but I would again like to point out
Per Mertesacker = Respecter Maker
Or … secret PE marker … Per tree-smacker … tsk, peer-creamer
Near misses:
Pert smackeree
Kept creme arse
Acme pesterer
Two steadiest players of the season have been Mert and Arteta, so big fuck you to the “experts” who labelled merts useless and arteta as not suited to that position… player of the year, i couldn’t decide between santi and merts, santi is incredible made all the better considering it’s his first season, merts, after the year he had last year, some achievement to turn it all around to become one of the most consistent defenders in the PL… Would be funny if it was decided by a race between the two of them on that assault course from gladiators,… Read more »
We can’t have a player of the year this year. It’s impossible to choose one. Per is the rock of our defence, but Kos is essential to make it work. Arteta is the shield that makes the work of Per and Kos possible. Ramsey has worked his socks off to redeem his reputation after he was mauled last season. Santi has been the brains of our attack, while Rosicky has become it’s engine. Walcott has surprised everybody with his almost-all-season consistency and his pace still scares defences, and Giroud cements the attack together making it possible for four of the… Read more »
Yes, I know. Just look at the players I’ve left out of my list. This team have really grown together through the season. One more game to win and the future is looking brighter for once. I think there’s light at the end of our tunnel.
No thumbs so I thought I would let you know I read your comments…. but couldn’t be bothered awarding you a thumb….
Only Manchester City has conceded fewer goals than us this season.
And only Chelsea and Manchester United have scored more.
We may not quite have the squad we need to win the Premiership yet, but we’re close and for once we appear to have actual money to spend this summer.
Next season will be better.
Yes we say that at the end of every season…
Everybody does. Even the ones who win stuff. (Jus sayin’)
Bfg should have been picked for PFA team of the year ahead of spud’s vertonghen.
Vertonghen played this season?
I don’t think you can compare him to Arteta! Arteta is actually quite fucking flashy in a defendy attacky kind of way.
Iv always like Per from day one.
Iv never said a bad word against him.
And over the years iv been one of the few people who dont rate Verm.
I think Per is much better personally.
Mertesacker EXTREME!
Per is so good I like him
Mert has defended well this season but he needs to work on his ball handling and quicker, more decisive distribution.
I cringe every time I see a ball passed back to him. He hesitates with the ball and then, because he is on the right side, usually passes to Sagna – another one not known for fancy footwork.
On the contrary, I think Mertesacker is quite good on the ball and whilst his passes are never gonna cut defences open, I think it’s quite refreshing for us Arsenal fans to have a no nonsense defender who will just play simple passes and leave the fancy stuff to our more creative players. His simple style of play leads to very few mistakes.
Ball handling? He’s not the goalkeeper. Unless you mean that ball handling umm best leave that for after hours …
I used to play CB alot & usually as a sweeper or last man as some may called it. Yeah I know in England & many other places they play a flat four. But amyway, I always watch BFG plays & see his movements (not his pace) and it is very similar to what I would call a very good sweeper…reading the game well, being at the right vital places at the right time, not sliding in ormgoing into tackles unnnecassarily…and if you notice, he seldom goes down the ground making interception but always on his feet unless it is… Read more »
I love the fact that all these plastic gooners on other sites were saying shit like
“WHY OH WHY DID WE GET MERTESACKER INSTEAD OF GARY CAHILL”
KOSCIELNY/MERTERSACKER COMBO = ZERO LOSSES THIS SEASON.
THATS FUCKING WHY!
Santi’s a shoe in for player of the season but BFG would surely finish runner up and would clearly be defender of the year for us if Arsenal had that award.
In his 3rd season, I would like Per to step up and be counted on as 1 of the leaders of the team now alongside the likes of Arteta, Verms, and Rosicky.
Let’s finish the job on Sunday!
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