Wenger reveals why Arsenal will NOT dump our BFG

No one was surprised to see that Arsene Wenger chose to drop (or rest) the Arsenal vice-captain for the Premier League home clash with Everton on Sunday, after the World Cup winning defender was the worst of a bad bunch against Monaco in the Champions League.

It was not Mertesacker’s first mistake either, as he has been coming more and more under fire from fans and pundits as the season has drawn on. It did not even start too well for him, as our BFG seemed to be, understandably, suffering from a World Cup hangover.

The question now, however, is whether the giant defender has been replaced in the Gunners team permanently and his boss expressed both sides of the equation in his press conference today, ahead of the QPR game tomorrow. As reported by the Daily Mail, Wenger was full of praise for Per and the way he has handled the situation, insisting that the centre back is a real team player and not the sort to throw his toys out of the pram after losing his starting place.

The boss said, “Like everybody, we are all here to serve the club and raise above our own interest. He has played many games, has a fantastic mentality, he has great mental stature, absolutely remarkable, and his contribution to the team has been excellent up to now.

“I cannot tell you (if he will play at QPR), I have not decided yet. Honestly.”

I can understand why Wenger says that but I think he already intends to play Gabriel, the defensive cover the Gunners were desperate for earlier in the season. And it seems to me that the manager thinks he may have a new choice pairing at the back.

He went on, “We bought him to play regularly and of course, that is the target for him. His English is not perfect yet. Yes, he understands more than he talks.

“He has shown that he is a defender who is committed, focused and can integrate well in our defensive style. Overall his first game was a very positive one.”

It sounds to me that our BFG is now in a similar position to Szczesny; waiting for an injury or a bad game to give him another chance. But at least he has the right frame of mind to deal with it and that could be a huge bonus to Arsenal if we do need him and why I think Wenger will NOT want to let him leave in the summer. What do you think?

Tags Gabriel Mertesacker

28 Comments

    1. A SMOKESCREEN ……… Who cares?……. He’s already been dumped …….up next Gabriel pauLista ……. L()L

  1. He’s just what you don’t want as your captain or vice-captain and first choice centre back if you hope to win the title, sad truth but the honest truth.

  2. Honestly, I cannot tell you guys the number of times I’ve looked at the league table. Damn feels so sad that we dropped those vital points that would have had us gunning for the trophy itself. Damn it, Wenger, do not compromise your disciplinary stand with any player, and totally do away with sentiment and favouritism!!! See how everyone is singing Gabs’ praise, even Ospina could not hide his joy.

    If a player fails to perform well once, twice, just drop him, that’s why you’ve got a bench. Call me crazy, but I’ve got my eyes on Chelsea, not even City.

    1. You are not alone. I look at it everyday. Most of the time it’s impossible for it to change day to day because no matches are being played but I still look at it. Weird huh? I mean I looked at it yesterday and again this morning. What’s the point? lol

      I think I have obsessive compulsive disorder.

  3. He can’t play against United

    I think we actually have a better defense than United.

    1. Ospina = de Gea
    2. Koscielny/Mert/Gabriel/Chambers > Rojo/Smalling/Evans/Jones
    3. Bellerin/Chambers = Raphael/Valencia
    4. Monreal/Gibbs > Shaw/Young (Ashley has been playing LB this season too)
    5. Coquelin > Blind

    That’s why I would play Giroud aganst United. If I remember correctly Giroud scored in our loss to United.

    Anyway, United are most definitely beatable at OT, but from recent evidence I would not play Mertsacker in either QPR or United matches.

    Play Gabriel. Make Mertsacker earn back his place and replace him in summer with Hummels, Schar, Howedes, Godin, Ramos, Verane, Clyne, Jagielka, Baines, etc.

    1. We need to start being tough with players even players like Wilshere and Ramsey who are loyal and Arsenal thru and thru. If there are any players who don’t cut it anymore like Mertsacker and Flamini and Diaby (always injured) we must get rid of them regardless of How loyal they are or How much we like them.

    2. Saying Ospina is as good as de Gea is a little bit OTT, Ospina has been really good but lets not get ahead of ourselves!

      1. Yeah i thought that was a bit of an overstatement there… Ospina hasn’t been bad for us, has been a good shot stopper and his distribution improves game to game but he is still sketchy coming for balls (mostly because he is short)… As much as I dislike United have to say De Gea best keeper in the world at the moment, one of the few that single handedly wins his team points on a regular basis

    3. Not only that but this our only shot I starting a streak of at least a trophy each season…it’s not the EPL or CL trophy but I think it’s important to show that we have progressed on that regard after our decade long drought more so against one of our bitter rivals: It doesn’t matter by how much or well we win the game but that ww WIN period!!

  4. Mertersacker is not a bad defender. He has a huge weakness which is his pace hence can be easily exposed every time we play with a high defensive line. His reading of the game, calmness, positioning and ariel prowess is very useful when we are under huge pressure and need to defend deep. Great player to have on the bench, throw him in the last 10 mins to kill the game off, can rotate and start him in Cup or against opponent that has big but slow strikers.

    1. I agree. He is a good defender but I think he would perform better in a league that isn’t as fast paced as PL.

      He is just very slow in the PL and that leaves the opponents opportunities to exploit with their speed and score goals.

    2. @ethangooner……… Are there anymore slow strikers in existence in the premier league ……oh i forgot there’s Giroud

  5. Time to say goodbye to Mertesacker. He can’t hack it in E.P.L. He isn’t capable of looking after his own game and is a chronic liability for his teamates. No room for sentiment I’m afraid. For me it was a breath of fresh air to see an athlete take his place and for once I could relax and stop screaming at the telly..If that one tackle on Lukaku wasn’t enough to convince every fan then maybe try another hobby. For Mertesacker this is history repeating itself.He was villified in Germany and will probably find it hard to get another club, A nice enough guy but not a good footballer.

  6. Gabriel best start vs QPR, he showed some real potential vs Everton, and that was onjly his first game.
    Sounds daft but im really happy he made that mistake early on which ospina had to clear up, it showed us all he has both the ability and mental strength to overcome said mistake.

    Gab and Kos from now on please !!!!!

  7. He can’t openly suggest that Per’s done at Arsenal mid season as we may need him even if it’s from the bench. He needs to believe he’s still fighting for his place.
    I’m hoping though Gabriel holds his place and Wenger buys another CB in the Summer.

    Interesting though that Wenger made him VC, no one else springs to mind as having the character or leadership qualities. I’d prefer Santi or Kos as VC.

  8. @fredcowardly. A league that isn’t as fast paced? Every league utilises a counter attack from time to time. For Per’s credibility he should retire early and become a pundit or take a coaching role.

    As the guys on MOTD said both of the key tackles Gabriel made Per wouldn’t have got close to.

  9. @arsenal369.
    Ospina seems to be a fantastic shot stopper and is calm and commanding, we also saw he’s pretty quick and good at tackling. That tackle on Lukaku Schez would have come and then gone back.

    My only uncertainty with Ospina is his lack of size when it comes to aerial balls. I saw a photo on Arsenals website showing Schez, Ospina and Martinez together, Ospina is quite a bit shorter and smaller than the other two.

  10. @luvdaguns.
    I identified Per as not good soon after he was signed, this year he’s declined even more.
    In the WC Jogi dropped him if you remember.
    And as for turning on your own, everyone has a bad game or two but when one player consistently is poor and exposes his team mates/costs us points then I consider a ruthless decision needs to be made to drop the player, Wengers made it, finally!

  11. i would hate to have friends like some people on here!!as soon as things don,t go the way they should people don,t waste any time in kicking you while down!!i agree per had to be benched and his performances of late haven,t been what we expect from him but we forget that when everybody was gettin injured &couldn,t play the only constant we had was Per&he was doing a good job of it!!so we should wish well&back him to come stronger also we should salute his professionalism the man is taking it on the chin,a good example for the rest of the players !!

    1. “the only constant we had was Per”: thats not a good enuf reason to play for AFC. if we’re sitting back he’s ok. if we’re playing high line or at home against inferior/equal teams, we cant afford to play Per.

  12. One of my main issues with Per is that he doesn’t win nearly as many aerial balls as he should… He seems to always be waiting for the ball to come to him rather than attacking crosses… The same ball watching that all of our defenders are prone to and the cause of many dropped points this season…

  13. Pointing out per being slow for the 1 millionth time isnt going to make anyone go hey you know he may be on to something there, never realized and thanks for the bloody obvious.

    We know per is a very good defender despite his flaws and maybe Arsene should have just took on board Germanys way/when of employing the big man.

  14. Yes, and they should put him out to graze, just as Germany did.The fact that the Germans have given him more than a hundred caps is a mystery but even they, history tells us, can get things wrong..

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