Arsene Wenger has hinted that Per Mertesacker is feeling the effects of a long-season and that despite his recent dip in form he’s still an important player for Arsenal.
The German was rested/dropped (depending on your perspective) for Sunday’s 2-0 win over Everton, but it’s the first time the BFG has missed a Premier League game since the opening day of the season.
Since then he’s played a total of 2250 minutes in the league and 630m in the Champions League for a combined 2880 minutes of playing time.
The only two players who come close are Santi Cazorla with 2579 (2110 + 469) and Alexis 2519 (2007 + 512)*
Although both the Spaniard and the Chilean went to the World Cup, they didn’t go as far as Germany, and Mertesacker had just one week of pre-season training before being thrust back into action – so if his loss of recent form is down to him being a bit knackered then it’s understandable.
“Per has played many games and he has a fantastic mentality,” said Wenger in his press conference today, when asked how the player had responded to being left out.
“We are all here to serve the club and rise above our own individual interests. He has a great mental stature that is absolutely remarkable, and his contribution to the team has been excellent.
“There are periods where people are a bit less in form and that happens to everybody.”
Speaking about tomorrow night Wenger said he had yet to decide on his team, but declared himself happy with Gabriel’s Premier League debut.
“He has shown that he’s a defender who’s committed, focused and can integrate well into our defensive system,” he said.
“For a first game it was a very positive one.”
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Stats don’t include Capital One Cup or FA Cup.
Alexis + 2 FA Cup starts, 1 sub: 1 Capital One Cup
Cazorla + 2 FA Cup starts: 1 Capital One Cup sub
Mertesacker + 1 FA Cup start
Either way atleast we’ve got quality depth now
Too much depth in fact it’s frightening. If I were to name our best XI I’d end up with a number of varieties. I’d personally go for Ospina – Debuchy – Per – Koscielny – Gibbs (if he can regain last season’s form) – Coquelin – Ramsey – Sanchez – Ozil – Cazorla – Giroud. That is a bloody good team and then you realize there’s still room for Sczezny, Gabriel, Walcott, Wilshere, Ox, Rosicky, Arteta and Welbeck. All of whom I’d have no problem with if they take the place of any player in my initial listed XI. It… Read more »
Totally agree mate, it’s a hell of a squad.
The good thing about the depth we have is also that the “subs” bring different qualities that can be used for specific games.
Someone just needs to let Arsene know!!
Great squad & yet we keep encountering the same issues when the real important games kick in. We are obviously mentally lacking that attitude that wins titles.
I like Mertesacker but I feel his lack of pace is a big issue in certain games, especially against teams who let us attack and try to hit us on the break with pace.
Great squad defender to have but would rather we develop Gabriel inti one of our regular starters, based on what I have seen of him
Yeah, I think Per suits a City-like Plan B game where we are against teams like Barca because he`s really good at commanding the defence and structuring it. But for matches where we are constantly attacking the opposition, I think Gabriel would be useful so we don`t get taken advantage off.
When has Mertasaker ever shown he organizes the defense? And, regarding matches where any team relentlessly attacks…since when were CB’s involved if they did not have the speed to return to position? Mertesaker is very good when in position but evidently lacks self-discipline to maintain such a position. It’s baffling as he seems like an intelligent guy…then you have the woeful idea the manager also cannot impose positional discipline either – sadly it’s a recipe for disaster as we have repeatedly witnessed. Looking across the whole squad, almost every player has some weakness but Mertesaker raises the most questions. I… Read more »
I know some fans dont rate him but I love him. We now have 3 good CBs in our squad and BFG deserves some break especially after some dip in form. He will come back as strong as ever. Come on BFG.
and Chambers, Monreal, Debuchy as backup CBs. Not too shabby!
I’d feel tired dragging that size of body around with me. He’ll never be quick, just makes up for it with intelligence.. We have quick players either side of him.
Part of the best defence in the PL in 2013, no break due to the World Cup (he won), people are harsh on him.
Hope he recharges and comes back strong.
And has a sense of humour…
http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1123850/thumbs/o-PER-MERTESACKER-facebook.jpg
I think the most remarkable thing about that picture is that it is the first time, I’ve ever seen a footballer in a library/bookstore.
that’s great! who thumbed this down?!?
Hopefully just a fat finger mistake.
Class photo.
Pretty fucking funny! BFG!
And he is a library user, 10/10….
BFG!
Honestly can’t believe some of the criticism he’s had recently, he’s been one of our most consistent performers over the last couple of seasons. I think he’s done incredibly to perform at such a high level this season considering he a) had no pre-season, b) must have a had a sizeable WC hangover, c) hasn’t really had a proper break since July 2013, d) has had to regularly take over captaincy duties and e) for a large part of this season had to hold together a pretty ragged, inexperienced and makeshift defence. Cut the guy some slack, give him a… Read more »
Couldn’t agree more
The people who criticise are the same cretins that have a go at Özil for being lazy when he has covered more ground than anyone else on the field.
Media led, spoon fed, morons.
Couldn’t agree more or have told it better. 😉
what a man, professional athlete jogs 11k in 98 mins and some of us are amazed
Can’t find anything good to say about a German?
What did I say about Mert??
Try the World Cup winning Ozil then. Bet you can’t.
Ask most German fans what they think of him
Post a link or better links to Germany fans slagging him off. Preferably after the World Cup.
No they aren’t.
Ozil could walk into any other top European side (and everyone knows it). As I noted above what top European side would bid for Mertesaker?
That’s a pretty dumb way to judge a player as teams play different styles and pick players based on their unique requirements. However, I bet Juve and Atletico would snap him up. I bet he’d also go straight into the starting XIs of all our pl rivals bar Chelsea. Secondly, it should be taken into account the players he has played next to this season. Behind him, an out of form and unfocussed Szczesny; to his right, a rookie in Chambers/Bellerin; on his left an out of position Monreal/a barely fit and hesitant Koscielny; and in front he screened by… Read more »
Well said, I second your view…
‘Kill’em!’ – Arseblog
I couldnt be agree more with AW. Per had been our regular player for almost the whole season we had been playing, he must has reached his limit & his age also now limit his capability. I just dont get why people put all the blame on him, especially those who called themselves a so ‘true’ fans. Per needs some rest, hope he’ll be back stronger & prove that he could do better & shut all the haters mouth. Give gabriel some chance to play, he has been good on his fa cup & league debut.
After couple of bad performances some fans forgot how good was Per last season, and that his goal against Wigan salvage the dream to become Fa cup champions, and it’s sad to watch some fan on Arsenal fan tv that Per is finished and should never return to play, our fans turn around on individual players is joke, they turn on giroud after the CL game vs Monaco and now against everton are saying the knew giroud is good and will score same with Per, deal with it so called fans, Per and Giroud had a bad game against monaco,… Read more »
Message to Arsene’s Zip, just for your information everyone is free to criticise, on here, even if we don’t agree with what they are saying…so to call others cretins and media led, spoon fed morons, doesn’t mean there comment is less valid than yours. For example to say that Ozil covers more ground than any other player, means absolutely nothing. It is what he does whilst doing it that matters surely.
“For example to say that Ozil covers more ground than any other player, means absolutely nothing.”
Well, it says plenty when the main criticism of him is that he’s lazy and doesn’t try.
No it doesn’t say anything. The main criticism has never been how much ground he covers, its the lack of tackles or even attempts at tackles, lack of headers won or even attempts at headers, the lack of going in for 50/50s and the amount of times he is bundled off the ball.
Let’s have stats on those instead of media fed lazy stats on how much yards he covers?
People talk all the time about how he’s lazy. If you want to criticise an attacking midfielder for not winning tackles or headers, fine. As it stands, I think he could be stronger at times, but if that’s what you’re looking for from Mesut Ozil then you’re looking for the wrong things.
And yet he’s upped that very part of his game. You’ll never get crunching tackles out of him but he harries opponents when out of possession now far more than he used to.
So we will ignore the running and also the two assists and most passes in the Everton game and still criticise?
At what point does he have to do something and be praised? It seems a high threshold.
Unfortunately he will always be disliked by a certain group of fans. It is his fault in there eyes that a filthbag was jumping up and down wearing blue next to the ultimate filthbag at Wembley on Sunday.
When he starts to justify his enormous price tag and does things like Henry, Berkamp, Brady, to name a few, he’s supposed to be that quality of player, anybody with a half functioning eyesight must be underwhelmed by his performances,
Anyone with functioning eyesight would also note that his intelligent positioning prevents passes from being made in the first place, negating the need for tackles.
Not really, my comments keep getting deleted because I disagree however all he has to do is attempt a few tackles, go in for 50/50s, go up for headers and shoe a bit of strength sometimes. No one shows theses stats when defending or criticising him, IMO you’re being just as lazy as the lazy pundits and showing half the picture. The same people slated Podolski and now starting on Theo for not doing their defensive work but ozil is the same, he may run back but does nothing when there, just jogs alongside the opponent. I like the guy… Read more »
Your comments are not being deleted.
Sorry, seemed to dissapear for a while.
I still maintain that people were looking for those things with Podolski but overlook them for Ozil and to go from a good player to a great player whether you are an attacking player or not you need to go in for 50/50s, go up for a header etc. I don’t even mind if he loses them as long as he is making an attempt. I think that’s where the ‘lazy’ comes in, not because he doesn’t cover the yards.
theo and podolski, when not scoring, provide almost nothing else to the team sometimes.
ozil, on the other hand, if not assisting, is leading the team in shots created for teammates(key passes), and often in passes and attacking third passes.
he’s doing his job.
Have a look at Podolskis’s stats in the final third then come back. Remember to compare it with minutes played.
Errr I think you’ll find Ozil’s stats are usually good. But the stick they’ll beat him with is the whole run around thing ala Michael Nowan, the commentator.
Honestly have so much love for that guy, so much so that I have his name on the back of my shirt. Now that was F*CKING expensive
Then why on earth did Wenger not bring in another cb in the Summer? He knew Sagna and Vermaelen were off in January. He knew about Koscielny’s achilles problems and Mertesacker’s fatigue. It was a surprise to no one that after Mert and Kos played around 60 matches in a year they would suffer. Koscielny had to play through injury and suffered. Mertesacker had to play a few weeks after a very long season for him. Fans love to talk about how the players let Wenger down. But there are so many examples of Wenger hanging the players out to… Read more »
Good point on the CBs. And on the lack of questioning ala David Dein (get him back?).
I guess he makes so many good decisions that the rest don’t feel competent to question him (I doubt Kroenke would know the right questions to ask).
I think those are all fair criticisms of Wenger and I think most fans would agree with you on most of them. I do disagree with the criticism of Kroenke. The way Stan runs his teams is that he sees himself as the provider of capital and does not want or need to get involved in the management of the team. That is the board’s and Wenger’s responsibility, not his. He sees them as the experts to handle this responsibility. He applies the same management philosophy with the Avalanche and the Rams. It has nothing to do with Wenger or… Read more »
Kroenke hasn’t put any capital into Arsenal. Arsenal would be in the exact same position without Kroenke as they would be with him. There’s been an increase in spending over the past few years cos there’s more tv money and sponsorship money. Nothing to do with Kroenke. Kroenke’s way of working has failed at Arsnal as it has with the Nuggets and Rams. The Nuggets are 20 and 39 and have been shit all season. They’re going to be in the lottery and have just fired their coach. The rams are dreadful and are led by an overrated scumbag coach.… Read more »
I will take the Kroenke model over the Jerry Jones model every day of the week.
This ozil debate reminds me of juan veron’s time at Man Utd. Some Utd fans were so dogmatic in their insistence that this genuinely fine player was doing the business for them. When he was sold they chilled out and admitted that he had underperformed. For me ozil has been quite poor offensively. Limited passing range, safe options, no valuable trickery, shaky finishing, limited valuable fouls drawn and no telepathic links with other key players yet. Honestly guys he has toggled offensively between good and quite disappointing. Also haven’t seen him play well when the team struggles a la Sanchez.… Read more »
Would this be the same Mesut Ozil that has 3 goals and 6 assists in 11 starts in the Premier League that has been poor offensively?
Yes that is him. Not convinced by lazer focus on assists as proof of good form. Goals maybe but he only has 3. My point is that he needs to do more offensively. Forget the being pushed off the ball too easily (a separate issue). Sometimes our defence of our player is a reflex. He hasn’t been that consistent since he joined. If you asked a sensible fan of another top 4 club would they want him in their team they would surely hesitate. Offer them a david silva and they wouldn’t. That is telling. Sometimes we won’t change our… Read more »
Yes let’s not focus on a stat that leads to goals scored. Silly us what a stupid thing to focus on.
Fine if you want to focus on that. I think assists can be misleading. I’ll give you another player who isn’t having as good a season as his assists total suggests, fabregas. It does happen you know. I would love to see more games where ozil was downright influential from an attacking sense. If you want to boil it down to assists fine. As long as you understand my view that ozil has often disappointed from an offensive point of view. He plays a very low risk offensive game. As he did in the World Cup actually. Underwhelming and because… Read more »
That’s close to nonsense. The other day I had a conversation with a friend and he noted (but for their transfer fiasco) one team Ozil could walk into tomorrow would be Bracelona to replace one of their aging midfield. The thought of Ozil stringing passes through to Messi, Suarez and Neymar would be mind boggling. I have said it before – if Arsenal fail to get the best from Mesut it will reflect more about the club and their tactical failure/naivete than Mesut’s performance. I wouldn’t mind if the conversation ever got the least bit sophisticated but it hovers at… Read more »
That’s quite a reflexive attack on me daring to suggest that over the past season and a half mesut has toggled between good (never great) and poor form. Forget the media. They deal in nonsense. We all agree there. I think sensible football fans have some doubts about ozil based on his inconsistent attacking form. Extending to the World Cup where he certainly had good players around him. Never mind a genuine struggle to cope with a more physical league which is also an argument with some merit. The real argument is that his meagre defensive attributes would be less… Read more »
Lol.
But he doesn’t smile enough,how can he be a good player?
Wenger did buy someone. Chambers. And then debuchy got injured so chambers became our rb. Personally I’m glad wenger waited to get the defender he wanted in Gabriel even if he had to wait till January to get him. Take that over another squilacci or Sylvester any day. Short term pain for long term gain, you know?
Per has played more games than most in the team
This whole ‘lacks pace’ argument is facile at best. His positioning in general tends to be immaculate.
he was not suffering from world cup ‘fatique’ more than an unsettled an inexperienced backline?Cback partnership first half of season.
Gabriel is a great prospect but it seems ridiculous to suggest should be better than Per.
Metersecker is NOT a squad player. He is an articulate player who his crucial to us at the moment but may need a bit of rest.
Sometimes I think Per lack the idea of what constitutes a defender. There are some clearance he would just ignore and stay idle to see the keeper do whether “magic or miracle” to save the ball. Example is that that Gabriel tackle on Lukaku against Everton. If it were Per at that point he would leave Lukaku shot hoping the keeper can save it. That’s not a defender. As a defender you need to use your whole body for blocking, tackling and clearing balls. Per lacks that and needs to be talken to.