Per Mertesacker says he and his Academy staff are doing everything they can to support Unai Emery as the Spaniard attempts to return Arsenal to the Champions League.
The German has been working with Freddie Ljungberg, coach of the club’s under-23s, to feed young talent into first team training sessions when required and says he’s pleased Arsene Wenger’s successor has been so receptive to the club’s long-standing youth policy.
“At the moment we are really happy with him,” Mertesacker told Goal.com. “How he evolves the game and brings something different to the club. Being here I am trying to support him as much as I can with my focus and my years that I’ve had being here.
“[Under-23s manager] Freddie Ljungberg has the closest link to him because, on a day-by-day basis, he needs to provide players, or not. I am trying to guide it in a way but Unai is open to talking to me at any time. So I can come to his office when I want.
“He knew before he came that it is required, in a way, that he trusts the youth. That he promotes that at the club. I think that came naturally to him at the club as well. If he sees good talent and trusts it, then he will let them play.
“With the Europa League, we have the chance this season. On the one hand, we want to reach the Champions League. On the other, we have the chance to promote youngsters, but we are trying to get back to the Champions League, to prepare the youngsters for the highest level.”
Mertesacker also touched on how Emery’s personal touch is helping the pair build a relationship.
“I watch his training sessions and he is open to talking. He is talking about the days where we faced each other or played each other. He coached Valencia and I played for Bremen. These bonds and connections you have as football people are nice.
“All of a sudden you feel this great connection between him and myself. But we are building because we are in the early stages. He wants to reach Champions League football with the first team, he is very intense and bringing a lot of energy.
“It is a new chapter and era right now. It is a difficult job so we are trying to support him as much as we can with what he requires. Sometimes that’s good young talent and he is willing to promote them if they are ready.
“It is our job to give him a headache, make him think ‘where are all these youngsters coming from?’. That’s our job. That’s my job to make it easy for him to see these good young talents and that he can trust them. So the connection is growing and we are just at the start.
“It is not easy for him with the heritage of being the successor of Arsene Wenger. Being in that position, we have seen other coaches struggle at other clubs, with that scenario so I am trying to do as much as I can to support him. That’s my focus. I am very busy with that.”
Love it Mert, look forward to the next few years
What a man – what an asset to this club!
The little info we are getting from the inside all suggest that Emery is very highly rated within the club. As fans, we just have to give him time to do his work, even if and when things turn sour. That’s what I think anyway.
We have a fifth column within our own fan base, so I wouldn’t hold your breath. That Le Grove guy is already laying the foundations for an Emery out campaign, because we didn’t go with his choice Arteta, the same Arteta who has no track record as a manager or head coach whatsoever….. Emery is doing a very good job, and since our owner isn’t going to back him, our fan base may as well get behind him. I think we’ll have to rely heavily on youth and quality coaching, which means whoever does the job? Is going to need… Read more »
Again I agree Le grove. The OP is already saying ‘the squad is good enough for top 4’ , sharping the knives for Emery if we missed the spot.
I think I and many other fans gotbcarried away with our poor run of form. I’m so glad he’s managed to turb it around as that’s the hallmark of a good manager. If those inside the club back him who am I to say otherwise. Let’s all support the team to a 4-0 thrashing tonight, I’m still going for a laca w goal jenko 1 goal scenario with one mystery scorer lol
It’s not about getting carried away. There are legitimate reasons to be concerned during the bad run. We can debate back and forth about the reasons why he was fielding his best 11. He wasn’t and now he is. It helps when you go out and play your best 11 and use a formation that works with your best players.
I don’t think any of us(at least most) want emery to fail. He’s our manager and I want him to succeed.
As far as I can tell, there’s nothing to even be sour about. We’ve had worse seasons under Wenger, and this one was always in danger of being a transition/collapse of a season.
We just beat Man U 2-0 at home. Arsenal fans are too greedy… It’s because most of us are keyboard warriors, randomly inflating opinions from the Daily Mail and ArsenalFanTV and other crap publications.
The problems we have – and they haven’t gone away just because we’re back on a winning streak – don’t lie with Emery. I kept saying that a few weeks ago but with some fans it’s always “manager out” as soon as things don’t go as we’d like. That’s the snake oil quick fix to everything. Emery is a good manager but he can only work within the confines of what he is given and with an owner that won’t turn on the faucet and then losing Mislintat this season, THERE lies the real problem. Let’s hope Emery gets a… Read more »
Mslintat not a loss.
In fact he prob wants him out.
He was tactful holding out for gal a season to give the German enough chance to hang himself 9r prove himself better.
But Mslintat has been hit and Msiss.
Arteta would gave gone head to head with Seven even earlier and upset the apple cart.
Unai at least gave a fair amount of time and garnered some moral ground to move the german.
Monchi hopefully will work closer with the gaffer and be more attentive to what we need both tactically and strategically.
I can’t wait for the glory days to come back to us! Surely, the only way is up.
COYG!!
Calm down, Yaz.
I think our youth players will prove to be extremely important over the next couple of years. One that really intrigues me is Bielik. My brother lives in Charlton and he tells me that they are all baffled as to why he is playing in league one. They say he could easily start in the championship or even the Bundesliga/Ligue 1, and at 21 he still has a lot of time to improve. At the very least, I don’t see why he couldn’t take Elneny’s bench warmer position next year and have the chance to impress in training, which would… Read more »
Er, young players don’t get the game time they need to develop while warming the bench? Young, talented players are more likely to be used regularly in a lower league, rather than acting as cover for a more experienced, older player in higher leagues?
But players are neededy on the bench every game. Do you want to buy them?
Mertsacker still talks a lot to say little. Academy works in support of Emery and CL is important to the club in so many phrases.
Try being asked the same question in 5 different wordings from any press briefing, and you’ll understand why this happens everywhere, in any industry, or (god forbid) the GOVERNMENT.
It usually happens because one smartass reporter kills everyone’s questions, and they have no other prepared, and so they just paraphrase the same damn thing. Does anyone even care about anything other than if Mert supports Emery? Will he say anything else to the public? Just gotta read between the lines: “I watch his training sessions and he is open to talking. He is talking about the days where we faced each other or played each other. He coached Valencia and I played for Bremen. These bonds and connections you have as football people are nice.” Football tactics are all… Read more »
….and we are very busy with watching you guys succeed, ???
Off topic: Last time there used to be a lot of videos from Robbie AFTV and there’s none. Am I missing anything ?
*now there’s none.
They ended up listening to their own voice.
When Chris left, the whole thing became a little sycophantic.
In BFG we Trust!
Class ?
The BFG!!!