The Magnificent Mertesacker
In 2011 on the close of the transfer window, Arsene Wenger went out and brought in 5 players. Of those 5 players two have had solid in influences on Arsenal. However, it’s the 8 million spent on Per Mertesacker that looks the best buy of the lot.
When Mertesacker joined many chided Wenger for signing a player that was slower than the Titanic and not a physical presence. Sure enough, that first season was a plethora of fits as the big lanky 6’6” German grew acclimated to his new playing environs.
However, prior to the injury that would end his first season, he was starting to show regular glimpses of the reasons why Wenger was keen on adding him to the Arsenal defense. But you have to go back to even before his time at Arsenal to understand the why even better.
Mertesacker came through the ranks of Hannover, his local club and his steady performances earned him a spot in the 2006 German National team where he paired up with Christoph Metzelder to form a solid pairing. Those performances led to a transfer to Werder Bremen. Successes started to come frequently for him and in 2010 as part of the German defense he saw the National team only concede one goal while he was on the pitch.
It was then that he started to attract notice and in part I believe because of the stellar performance of keeping Wayne Rooney at bay. Sure, Rooney may not have been completely focused or even fit at that point. But Mertesacker corralled him and made him irrelevant as much as he could.
The rumours of Arsenal interest in Mertesacker actually started if memory serves in the follow up to the 2010 WC. But it wasn’t until August 2011 when it all looked very bad for Arsenal that Wenger pulled the trigger on the move.
As mentioned previously, Mertesacker’s Arsenal career didn’t start bathed in glory. He took time to adjust to the English game and implored everyone to give him time to adjust and that he would be better the second season.
He was right.
Given time and patience Per Mertesacker has grown into the heart of Arsenal’s improved defense. Even though credit has to be given to his partner, Laurent Koscielny, it’s the calming, leadership qualities of the German that has been central to Arsenal resurgence as a defensive force.
Where Koscielny is the speed and aggression, Mertesacker is calculated. He is a player who seems very aware of his strengths. He knows that if he gets caught flat footed he is toast (which is why Koscielny is the perfect partner). He is rarely caught out of position. He reads play well and knows instinctively how to put himself in the right position to snuff out a play.
He’s not the best jumper in the world and there is a train of thought that his partner can actually get in the air as high as he can. But he’s still a presence to be accounted for and has done well both defensively and offensively winning the ball for us.
The praise for Mertesacker this season is effusive and it’s warranted. He is a stalwart and part of what was missing from the Arsenal squads since we began losing the likes of leaders like Vieira. Sure there are other leaders like Arteta and the Captain Vermaelen. But Mertesacker may be the 3rd choice for Captain, but his constant performances before, during and after matches shows that he is the first leader of this club.
We can all recount his telling off of Mesut Ozil after the loss to Manchester City. But there are also episodes when we scolds players during play for individual errors. And even though there aren’t many stories of what he does pre-match you can only assume that he is one of the key motivators of this squad.
And what’s great about this all is the almost unassuming way he does it. When pundits and supporters talk of central defenders they talk about strength and grit. They conjure up images of Tony Adams or in today’s games Vincent Kompany. These were the bench marks for Central Defenders. Mertesacker was and is over looked. For much of this season the narrative was still about Arsenal’s defensive frailties – a statement in direct opposition to the facts.
Mertesacker and his partner Koscielny have now gone on to see their 10th clean sheet this season. Together they haven’t lost a match when the two play a full 90 minutes together. They are the perfect yin and yang of defenders and it still has people scratching their heads.
Maybe it is as simple as Tony Adams suggests and it’s a case of two defenders who have spent a large chunk of time healthy and playing together. Some of it has to be Koscielny’s transformation from the scrawny Ligue 2 defender to the grit of the duo.
I still think it has more to having someone with the wherewithal to understand how the game is played, see how a game unfolds, puts himself in perfect position (most times) to make the play and leads by example. Per Mertesacker wasn’t anyone’s first choice for heir apparent to Tony Adams.
He is quietly going about it making a case that he is just that. And should Arsenal win a title here in the next season or two – then it will be because of the foundation that the Magnificent Mertesacker has given us. The BFG may not have had you convinced in August of 2011 but he surely should now.
