Was Mertesacker the right choice for Arsenal in the transfer window?
When Per Mertesacker arrived at Arsenal towards the end of the summer transfer window, he was thought to be the ultimate solution for Arsenal’s endless defensive issues. Standing at 1.98m and possessing a great leaping ability, he can deal with the aerial threat of physical Premier League teams, which has been a constant problem in Arsenal’s quest to once again become Champions of England.
I believe many gooners like myself have already noticed that at times, Per seems a little off the pace and shaky. His mistake against Norwich, allowing Morrison to open the scoring was one clear example. Another time would be the first 2 goals we conceded against Chelsea.
Besides that, Per’s Arsenal career so far has been rather decent. The way he handled defensive pressure steadily was what Arsenal have been looking for in a centre half for quite a while now. At a footballing prime age of 27, all his international experience would be of utmost help to the Arsenal backline.
Quite a while ago, I read somewhere that Per Mertesacker is a centre back that requires his partner to be the aggressor while he sits back and does his thing. I feel Vermaelen is one ‘aggressive’ defender and his partnership with Per could lead to Arsenal having one of the toughest and most unbreakable in the Premier League.
One thing though I hope to see from Per would be his aerial threat offensively. At his height, winning headers should be a piece of cake for him. Hopefully, he could also be a lethal weapon for Arsenal from set pieces, especially when Arsenal are so prone to wasting set pieces from good positions. Hopefully, Per will find the net for Arsenal soon.
Only time will tell if Per Mertesacker is a good signing for Arsenal. However if I was given a chance of Arsenal signing another defender to replace him, I would stick to Mertesacker wearing that red and white jersey.
What do you think?
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I tink he has done wel so far,his experience brings stability 2 d back.he was a gud signin
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
68 
1
Keep him. He is strong and can win balls I’m the air. With his experience, he surely can bring the sufficient experience to the team, as well as leadership qualities as he is a fo4mer captain of the Germany national team.
GUNNER4LIFE
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Out of tune?. Like or Dislike:
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28
yes
Opinions divided. What do you think?
9 
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He was a good signing, adds presence and steel to our defence. even when he is having an off day he instills confidence in the other defenders. He can only become even better as he continues to settle into the pace of the EPL, and in the end, its safe to say that Mertesacker is a much much MUCH better option than Squillaci or some of the other suspect defenders Arsenal have had in the past (senderos, silvestre)
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
33 
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Still yet… he was a last minute signing during towards the end of the transfer window… in which we really needed one.. but yet still… he is a good presence to the Arsenal defence.. but looks really low on confidence… Verminator-mertesacker is the perfect partnership… while koscienly will just beef up the competition in order to make the players feel threatened to lose 1st team… who knows… maybe Koscienly-mertesacker partnership could be a much more solid presence for the arsenal backline…
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
11 
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before he been brought i think samba wud b even better than him r cahill n that right.i jst keep imagining samba with tv5,samba with koscielny,koscielny with tv5.damn were good.bt he done well till now even my first choice wud b samba in that summer.jst myb mythought he is similar to sol campbell.so wenger wont go for em anymre.keep hoping for wenger to sign vertonghen.cahill overated n wenger wudnt bought em and he says that already.
for mert,he wil prove it he cud b even better.bt f we play against the like of barca or fast flowing football wenger shud play kos alongside tv5.shall see what wil he do on january transfer window.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
7 
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i think he’s a good signing…
yeah..he’s.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
11 
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Most importantly, he’s a true pro and wants to play for the club
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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well the results we have had after we signed him kind of answer that question.
his done well for us lets not forget he will get better and better as he gets in the habbit of playing in the english league.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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his ok but if it was me i would have still got samba just for his pure strengh and postioning and the way he attacks the ball sometimes to me mertasecker looks scared but his doing ok like you all say it will take time the premier league is no duckwalk it a very fast and quick league and if one is not use to it it can hit you 4 six
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3 
7
We have him, he works fine, no complaints
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
17 
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Per is a good defender & still has room 2 improve even though i stil thnk Kos & tv5 r e better partnership
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4 
1
it it can hit you 4 six
———-
It can also hit you 3-5
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5 
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He was 5th choice for us.
We bid for Cahill first
Jagielka
Samba
and then Mertascker. For a player Wenger said who was to slow for the EPL last year he decides to buy him this year. PANIC BUY.
He’s done ok since hes been here but that money would have been better spent on Vertonghen!
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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I dont really rate him, he is far too slow, as much as he wins headers and intercepts passes, we could’ve most likely bought jagielka, cahil, vertonghen, lucio or subotic for around the same price, maybe a little more, but would be much faster and less likely to make mistakes
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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He is a good defender. Not used to the English game.
However, if we look at how he performed for Arsenal in Europe, he did better.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
9 
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Should have got Chris Samba instead
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Although per is slow,but he’s adopting to english futball because its nt easy but i still think that arsenal manager should go for faster and agresive defenda in case of team like barca,madrid and others, in champion league.wat do u think?
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5 
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He’s done far more good than bad so far. You can see if he makes a mistake, he doesn’t just shrug his shoulders like some players (you all know who I’m talking about), he really tries and takes it seriously. I’d rather have players who try than players who have big heads and who think they are better than to try.
His height is by far our biggest advantage, although he seems a bit flimsy at times, I think he needs to be told and even encouraged to get stuck in more and be a bit more physical.
Otherwise a good buy and I think with Vermalaen only being back for a short period now, that partnership and understanding can only get better.
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8 
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I would’ve prefered samba but per has done ok. Still think that vermaelen and koscielny should be our 1st choice centre back pairing
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8 
2
I think he’s got a lot of potential but honestly i dont think he hasnt got use to the Style of Football Arsenal plays or in fact to an extent,the Pace of the Premier League.
Bundesliga is obviously a completely different challenge compared to the PL,since its more Fast paced & Physical.Furthermore,I dont like the fact that he’s been easily handed by Players like Morison & JT(Players of his Physique is who should be picking up in the box).
I know he can do better but obviously he’s not settled & needs more time but time is slowly running i have to say.Hopefully he eventually gets there
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5 
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Let me state that again,Made a few mistakes.Rate this one
I think he’s got a lot of potential but honestly i dont think he hasnt gotten use to the Style of Football Arsenal plays or in fact to an extent,the Pace of the Premier League.
Bundesliga is obviously a completely different challenge compared to the PL,which is more Fast paced & Physical.Furthermore,I dont like the fact that he’s been easily handed by Players like Morison & JT(Players of his Physique is who he should be picking up in the box).
I know he can do better but obviously he’s not settled & needs more time but time is slowly running i have to say.Hopefully he eventually gets there
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I think per mertesacker is a right choice sinning for Arsenal, and i believe very soon he will develop well and adapt with the gunners. Put into consideration when laurent koscieny first start with the gunners and look how perfect he was now and his excellent attacking and defending ability. Up Gunners.
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5 
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I think given time to adjust will be very good wouldnt get so many caps for Germany for nothing. Sol Campbell wasnt the quickest and neither was Tony Adams but both were exceptional and I believe Mertesacker will also be top class reliable defender given time to adjust to the speed of the Prem. He certainly reads the game well, no good having speed if out of position all the time, he seems to always be in the right place. Schezny certainly seems to trust him.
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Ive been a fan of him for years when he was at Bremen. Hes really a class act, just hasnt adapted to the league yet give him time and he will prove his worth.
GUNNERS!
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6 
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EVERYBODY BACK OFF HIM PREMIER IS SOLID AND EVERYBODYS TOO CRITICAL OFF HIM HES A GREAT PLAYER EVERYBODY POINTS OUT HIS BAD POINTS NOT THE GOOD AND THERE ARE MORE GOOD THAN BAD
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EVERYBODY BACK OFF HIM PREMIER IS SOLID AND EVERYBODYS TOO CRITICAL OFF HIM HES A GREAT PLAYER EVERYBODY POINTS OUT HIS BAD POINTS NOT THE GOOD AND THERE ARE MORE GOOD THAN BAD
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3 
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mertesacker > samba. you don’t win 70+ german caps unless you’re really good!
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7 
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Wenger bought him simply because his tall, has high level of experience on the big stage which neither cahill and samba have, and his reading of the game. Pluus, we have koscielny. By bringing samba or cahill would just disrupt koscielny’s development or worse could be another shit signing. with mert now, wenger can mix things up fast paced game , aggresive, high ball. he has more options in giving the right cb partnership. It’s either kozzy or mert. verminator is a no brainer
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3 
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He was the right defender to get and has done brilliantly well so far. The guy is tall so pace is a bit slow but if pace was the issue I think we have loads of it but what we must not forget is since he came into the team, things have changed drastically at the back. Remember in the beginning of the season how weak we were at the back. Fast forward to his first game, he was the only new defender there(No Santos) but we started to look solid. While Verm was injured he performed well so he is that good. I remember when we used to panic when the ball is in our box but one thing he does best is keeping calm and ready to clear anything in the area out. He made a mistake against Norwich but which defender is error free.
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3 
0
I think we should of got Samba much better suited to the EPL
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4
To be honest, I expected more from him, but no regrets getting him. Just hope arsene can get the best out of him.
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He is a proven central defender who is already having a very positive effect on the way the unit works. I cannot see how Samba or Cahill both players who are failing on a weekly basis to organise their defences could have possibly had an equal success if they had been signed. Both of these players are being found out in nearly every game and I cannot see how either would get into an Arsenal defence as starters.
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4 
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He has played under 20 games for us and people are already labeling him?? The man is a german central defender, the germans are renowned for their defense and if he plays their regularly then he must be good. What we need to understand is, he is not quick, was never quick. He is positional good, reads the game very well and is a no nonsense defender, exactly what we needed. He is good, he will only get better and if you go by his UCL performances alone, we know we have got a good defender on board.
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4 
1
Yeah Per was a good signing, gonna take a while for him to get used to the fast pace of the premier league
HOWEVER, In my own personal opinion I believe kosielny has the ability to be world class, just needs to improve his strength. he can read the game so well, and his anticipation is really good. First game against Barca last season he just about marked messi out the game (95% of the time)
It’s good to have this kind of competition in the team.
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2 
2
NO…ANOTHER CYGAN BUT WITH STYLE WHEN HE PLAYS THE BALL OUT OF DEFENSE WITH NO-ONE AROUND HIM .A STOP-GAP PANIC BUY.
CAHILL SAMBA VERTONGHEN WOULD ALL HAVE BEEN BETTER BUT WOULD HAVE COST MORE. ITS ALL ABOUT….WAIT FOR IT……..THE MONEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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0 
1
Samba & cahill re not better than mert, check their respective teams, the goals they’ve conceded u wud see that they’ve conceded and lost more games than mert’s team. Up gunners!
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1 
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Anyone who knows anything about cars knows that the lower a car is to the ground, the faster it goes both in a straight line and around corners. With the exception of Usain Bolt, tall isn’t sports. We cannot expect a giant of his size to be winning any races against Theo Walcott. What he has go instead is good game reading and the knack to pull off Jaw dropping interceptions and precision tackles timed to clock perfection. I think for his qualities alone, he was a perfect signing. All players have weaknesses. I think he more than makes up for them. And besides, he seems to get better with every game. no complaint here.
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