When Per Mertesacker got injured last season and was completely left out of the Arsenal side even when he had recovered fully, it looked like he had kicked his last ball for the Gunners. But due to injuries and suspensions the BFG was brought in for his first and ONLY start of the season against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, and he was immense in the middle of Arsenal’s new back three formation.
He has recently announced that this will be his last season as a player at Arsenal, and he will move on to running the academy players from next summer, and having been club captain for some time he obviously has great leadership qualities. Maybe he can teach our kids how to defend better!
But, as he said, he will still be playing this season, and due to Holding and Mustafi not being in the travelling Arsenal squad due to their international exploits, Mertesacker was once again in the starting line-up. The Big German not only helped to keep a clean sheet, but he was also up the other end to put us in the lead after just six minutes of the game.
“At the moment, Per does everything!” Wenger said. “He defends, he scores goals, so it’s a moment of his career where it’s all going well for him. We are all happy for him.”
So it could be that a three-man defence suits him perfectly as the extra man will camouflage his lack of pace, so do you think he should now be a permanent starter for Arrsenal when the new season gets under way?
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