The huge importance of Per Mertesacker to Arsenal by MH
Hi Gooners
Once again we came away with all 3 points. The win against Everton was very important and I was very nervous before the match as we have given our all against a good Watford side and an excellent Bayern Munich side, also we have struggled against Everton for the past few seasons.
The game started well – we were defending well and at other end creating chances, but in the second half it got nervy in last 30-35 minutes as Everton were very threatening on the counter. A few time we were suspect in our defending. Now Gabby and Koscielny make good pair, but the problem is the communication gap between them as Gabriel is still learning the English language. At that time I felt the importance of Per was obvious. There was no one shouting at the defenders. No one organising them. No one telling the others to backtrack and mark Everton wingers. As a result Everton were finding spaces. If not for the brilliant Cech and that awesome tackle by Gabby it could have been a different result, as that was definitely not one of days when we were having luck on our side.
I don’t know about you all but I have see Per rejuvenated after his return from illness. He seems more calm, composed, focused, and has been excellent in almost all the matches he had played. He is like a general who keeps our defence organised at all times.
Also he is the one natural leader on the pitch. He is our true captain. When ever he is not on pitch his influence and experience is sorely missed. This is the reason why Arsene thinks of so highly of him, and our best performances of last few seasons have came with Per in our defence.
Therefore for this season I believe that Per and the Boss are still #1 CB pairing for me.
Mir
i’ve heard many say when gabrie starts, we don’t easily conceed……. And yea it happened again in Everton game…….. I would particularly say PER was missed on the Arsenal team sheet, but not neccesarily in the matchday squad that face everton!
@ Admin………. I beg u in the name of God!…… If u’ve done anything to our “Hafiz Rahman” …….. Pleaseeeeee Undo it … L()L …….. Kinda missing his banters arnd ere
yeah that dude was funny in his own sort of way!!!
Also funny how some guys(wont mention names) only pop-up here when we loose and still claim to be true Arsenal supporters.
He’s obviously got his hands full with the manchester derby, boring match but at least he can show his true colours.
Me too. Admin, un-ban him. Initially I was always irritated by Hafiz. He will be among the first to comment, and his comments- thrash. Then later, I knew he was just a jester. When wanting to thumb down, I go to his comment.
On the topic, We beat Bayern without conceding a goal and yet people were still not satisfied with Per. I think the best opinion about Per should be gotten from Koss the Boss. He doesn’t look good in France colours but fantastic in Arsenal colours. Does he play better with Per beside him? Just thinking aloud.
I think that it is important for all three CBs to be rotated regularly so that they all get more experience alongside each other. Against teams like Munich I would say (for now) Kos and Per, but i may change my best pairing once Gabriel really settles into the team.
Agree some players need game-time and not to get thrown into the deep end when we have injuries to key players.
If livepool beat Chelsea this coming weekend im sure Mourinho will get fired.. Pliz Klopp do me that favour
That would be nice but I am not impressed so far with Liverpool under Klopp. It takes time. Hope he can motivate them against Chelsea 😀
Nah I don’t want Mou to be sacked …let him there .
Also. I am always for a good draw when our potential rivals meet.
Yes we did miss Mertz in this game. As you said he’s an organiser and a leader. I would say though that it doesn’t mean he must start every game. The beauty of it is that we have Gabriel as the other option. Against big, powerful strikers and teams who like to put the ball in the air Play Mertz. Against nimble, tricky and quick strikers play Gabriel.
It is exactly why Giroud was picked over Walcott in this game. We have enough variety I’m the team to counter the oppositions strengths.
Great week, great wins and now on to the next one.
P.S. I hope Jose doesn’t get fired, keeps flopping and watches and has to congratulate Arsenal and Wenger in winning the league.
and he knows how to make the crowd cheer after a very important tackle at the end of every game!…….. GABRIEL!!!!!!
gabriel can play in games that require us to defend deeply without possession, and those that are open where we rule possession…per can only play good in games where we defend deeply, open games expose his lack of pace..for me gab wins…now he has to work on co-ordinating with kos and our defence will be stronger than ever..coyg
please bring Hafiz back that man has swagger (in a negative way)
yeah the preference should be to keep all the 3 main defenders healthy ,competitive and to provide some sub minutes to chambers at the end of matches as I am concerned about his development
#bringbackhafiz
Deflection from Gabriel was due to his inexperience, I thought he should have gone for it whole heart-ed rather than just sticking his legs out. The same problem exists with Chambers as well, he already has to OG in his name this season. The experienced one’s manage to avoid this some how.
@Nishad
How wrong you are. Gabe was in front of Barkley tracking his run on goal. Ox and Bellerin were also tracking him and were closer. Hector backed off leaving Ox to track Barkley, but Ox backed off, so Gabe went in on the challenge, but he had to make up a yard or 2.
Had Ox continued to track Barkley, he could have prevented the goal. Had Gabe shut down Barkley earlier, he too could have prevented the goal.
It was a total lack of communication between the 2…
That’s what I summarized it on the inexperience. Communication and reading the situation much earlier all comes by experience. This is the same problem for Chambers as well.
@Nishad
But it was not about Gabes lack of experience as you pointed out. He had to make the decision of guarding his keeper or challenging Barkley. Ox’s tracking of Barkley meant that Gabe could fall back. Ox sudden abandonment of the tracking put Gabe on the spot. He thought quick and tried to neutralize the threat but was already a couple yards off…
Go to arsenalist.com and watch the play from all angles, then see how you feel about it.
Yeah, I thought the same. I thought that since Ox decided to run all of the way back well then why didn’t he just take the last couple of steps and stand facing the player blocking off the route to goal. Also he didn’t look around to see if any eve players joined up to make themselves available, if he had done that he would have realised that the only danger was a shot from Barkley.
Even Gabriel had enough time to close him down, other everton player was already marked. More over a naturally right footed player will use his right foot to block the shot if it coming from the right, and more so if he is short. Defender will show his back if he is close enough, Gab went with his left trying to turn back.
Anyways thanks for your comments
PER-sonality
I think the word calm said it all, he rarely lets a rush of blood go and is reason many players don’t even try dribbling past him ..that and his size. You can see more visibly last ditch tackles which come close to penalties more often when he is not there. And at two nil we needed someone to say to our midfield look we are winning lets just sit back and pick them off. Even Coq was more forward than he should have been, and we did not need any of our fullbacks venturing forward. Other than that all was sound. Big funny German, we have a big funny German.
gabriel still learning english!!are you being serious?he only needs few words on the pitch:back,forward,hold…
Not sure what game you watched. Gabriel made a game saving tackle that Mert is too slow to make. He was solid all game and an attacking threat on corners.
It’s too late now but Ill reply anyway, I was talking about calmness. That last moments header at goal was anything but calm because nobody organised the unit. Gabs tackle was awesome and I mentioned it but it was last ditch because too many Arsenal players ventured forward.
Mert wouldn’t even allow the player get pass him for him to make a last ditch tackle