Our giant of a German Per Mertesacker's ankle looks as battered and bruised as my bank account after buying a hot-dog with a pint of Carlsberg at the Emirates.
It looks in seriously bad shape and I can imagine the pain Per felt when his 6ft 6in frame went over and buckled himself.
Seeing the photo made me wince. I've done my ankle like that before and I was out injured for about 3-4 months.
Now I don't know the length of time that Mertesacker will be out for. I'm not a medical expert or a psychic, nor do I claim to be, but I do know that he will be hugely missed.
Unlike Harry Redknapp, the jury is still out on the centre-back but I think he has settled into life at Arsenal responsibly well.
I happen to believe some people have been more than harsh on Per.
I know he turns slower than Michelle McManus doing a twirl, but I think it would be fairer to judge him next season when he has had time to adapt to English football.
I've no doubt Arsenal will miss him hugely (excuse the pun) for the period he is out injured and I only hope the injury isn't a season-ending one.
He appears to have a calming influence on the side and there is no doubt that the rest of the squad respect him and his 80-odd caps for Germany.
Mertesacker will be sick at this injury. He has established himself in the side and has Euro 2012 with his country coming up.
I feel as sick as a parrot for him too. He has become my second favourite German after David Hasslehoff and I only hope he can recover quickly because, despite his doubters, Arsenal are better with him.
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Keep It Goonerish..........
20 comments:
Second favourite? I think you're forgetting mad Jens...
I think Vermaelen is so much better at CB and as long as Gibbs can keep fit the defence will be much better off.
Vermaelen and Koscielny together at CB with Sagna at RB is the start of a very strong defence that I think would compete with Utd and City easily. If Gibbs stays fit and gets sharp after 7/8 full games the defence will look very strong and Mertesacker won't stand a chance of getting back in the team
i think people forget which job per does for our defence he is like a sweeper of the back 4 he lets koscielny rush out and try and steal ball while he sweeps up the through balls and not to mention the amount of set piece ball he gets his head too i think with verm in there with kos they are two very similar in their rush approach and there is only room for one cb to do that and for me i doubt verm or kos are as good as mertesacker for that job even though kos and verm have greater pace they dont read and react to danger aswell as per
He has to be a sweeper because he has no pace and he is a typical tall player who never jumps for a header. I dont know what you watching because he doesnt win any set pieces and he never wins a header when challenged, if you had never seen him play before in the summer and been told we were signing a 6ft 6 German CB you imagine him to be like Huth. We have the softest defender in the league who is also the slowest, who has no coordination and is so unwilling to move from his position to cover for another player
Big Per has been fantastic.
His defensive positioning is the best at the club.
Not quick, sure.
But the timing of his tackling and reading of the game is very Tony Adams.
And his passing is immaculate. This guy does not give the ball away.
I am dreading the return of Djourou.
What is going on at the club that he has been given a contract extension and a rise?
An absolute donkey!
And how many caps has Huth won for Germany?
I don't think Per being slow reduces him as a defender. He is the best reader of the game i have seen in a long time, and this makes up for his pace. He can tell who the player is going to pass to and moves into that position to cover it. The only reason he has had a lot of pressure on him is because this is the first time that Wenger has bought an experienced international with plenty of caps for a top Country.
On top of that, it is a position that everyone has been going on for a long time that we need to strengthen. We must remember he is leaving one of the slowest leagues in the world and coming to the fastest.
He is already a top class defender and give him another 2 or 3 months and I garuntee you he will transform into one of the best in the league, like Kos has done this season.
Regarding the selection choice, I don't know why many bloggers are saying that we have a selection crisis. Put Verm at centre back and Gibbs at left back and your sorted.
Then wait 5 minutes into the game when GIbbs gets injured and put Coquelin at left back. Or put Verm back at left back and Djourou in the middle.
Or to sort all problems out, buy a reliable left back that can play week in week out. Spend £8m and get Aly Cissokho please Wenger!
Max
He has a good pass completion because he only passes it 10 yards at a time. He is awful shows no commitment or determination.His position is just rooted to one place he never sticks with a striker and doesnt move out wide when the full back is out of position even if the other cb is with him and not marking anyone. Alex from Chelsea would have been a much better signing, I agree about Djourou he is awful too, I want Bartley to make the step up next year, Rangers fans love him. He's tall, quick, strong, a good leader and can play in loads of positions (a rangers fan told me 7 different ones this season).
Welbeck rinsed him with his pace!
Koscielny has come good because he shows some commitment and challenges physically
I also think we need a LB because gibbs won't stay fit. I'd rather coquelin play there wednesday than rush gibbs back.
In the summer we should sign Baines, he's a consistent player who is english so the squad won't be affected with the foreign player rule, plus he will settle quicker
It's good to see so many comments on here from people who appreciate what Per brings to our team.
He is a very fine footballer and those who criticise him really have quite an undeveloped understanding of the more subtle aspects of the game.
Just because he's not diving in to last ditch tackles does not mean he is not being effective. His reading of the game allows him to snuff out attacks before they become dangerous and we have not had such a good footballing CB since David O'Leary.
His passing is phenomenally good and has been of great benefit to the team.
To the person who said he doesn't win headers, get a video of Saturday's game against Sunderland.
Our first choice CB pairing should be Per, plus one of Koscielny and Vermaelen. It's harsh on whoever doesn't play, because both LK and TV are great players but, as others have pointed out, their style is very similar and works best when complemented with a different style, as personified by Big Per.
Why is everybody forgetting about SS? Ok I can't even type that with a straight face. I think per has grown into his role in the back four as an ariel interceptor. I don't think our back four will be as strong without him but against a European team like Milan who won't "put it in the mixer" we are probably better off with LK and TV
I'd put money on a clean sheet in Milan.
Mertesacker is fucking useless anyone who thinks different has been blinded by shit CBs for too long.
Gallas and Vermaelen worked so can Koscielny and Vermaelen.
Vermaelen is our best CB by miles Koscielny is second best by a clear margine. I'd have to see a dramatic change to think differently
U said it we have been blinded by shit centre backs with william gallas being one of the main culprits. not sure what u was watching that season but it was not 2 centre backs working well together. gallas did not work with anypne at arsenal.he waz selfish moody and an absolute disgrace which.is why he lost the captaincy mid season. per is twi e the.player and twice the man of gallas. as for vermaelen well.whether he likes it or not he will never be a great centre back he is a.very good one. however he could be a great left back in fact i would say in the epl only ashley cole is ahead of him. forget baines cissokho gibbs santos enrique evra taiwo. vermaelen is already a better left back than all.of em. its just unfortunate he.is also our best centre back. bring in samba and vertonghen and he wont be.
agree on this as he is a very good defender
FOR PEOPLE WHO DOUBT HIM, LOOK AT WHAT OUR DEFENCE WAS BEFORE HE JOINED US. TO PLAY FOR THE GERMEN NATIONAL TEAM IS NO JOKE. THOSE WHO THINK TERRY, FERDINAND AND CAHILL ARE GOOD DEFENDERS, WHAT HAVE THEY ACHIEVED FOR THE NATIONAL TEAM ? HORSES BALLS ! THAT'S WHAT. LOOK AT WHAT THE GERMAN TEAM HAS ACHIEVED WHIT HIM IN THE SIDE. IF YOU THINK ROONEY AND CO. ARE SO GOOD, DO YOU'LL REMEMBER THE TRASHING THEY GOT AT THE WORLD CUP FROM GERMANY, OF WHICH HE WAS AN IMPORTANT MEMBER. HE HAS ACHIEVED A LOT AND NO ONE DESERVES IT MORE. BESIDES HE'S A GREAT GUY TO HAVE IN THE DRESSING ROOM I'M SURE. GET WELL SOON METS, WE GUNNERS NEED YOU.
Our best defender is Kos, He is a super computer in a human body. Once he gets some more international experience under his belt he will get the respect he sooooo badly deserves.
I feel per reads the game better than vermealen but not as good as him as a whole.
Well my AKB friend. What do you have to say now?
Mertesacker is shit plain and simple and you Wrighty7 are becoming even more deluded than Arsene
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