Per Mertesacker - Defender first, footballer second!!

In his first two games for the Arsenal i have been very impressed with our new German man mountain.

One of the main components of any successfull team has always been a leader at the back. Over the years Arsenal have had Adams, Campbell, Keown, O'Leary and i now believe we have finally found a new name to add to that list.

He does lack a bit of pace granted, but his positional sense, communication and aerial awareness are there for all to see. At every corner kick against Dortmund last night he was busy organising, talking to the goalkeeper; putting his body where it was needed; not qualities that Koscielny, Squiallchi or Djourou have shown thus far in their Arsenal careers.

Some people say that Wenger cannot buy defenders but he brought in Lauren, Toure, Campbell and Cole (through the youth system). I think recently he has become a little to fixated on emulating Barcelona's style of play. It now looks like he has finally gone back to bringing in defenders who can first DEFEND; if they can play then that is an added bonus.

I can only see Mertesacker getting even better once he has got up to speed with the premier league's pace. And when Vermaelen's ankles finally settle down to normaility then we could have a partnership that will be there for years to come.

Very impressed with him too.

Can't wait to see him and Vermaelen together, though Koscielny deserves to stay in the team at the minute

Friends.. I must be more inspired and encouraged with your words than what i saw on the pitch in the last 2 games..

I still cant make up my mind on Koscielny. There is no doubting that he gives 110% every game but sometimes he resembles a headless chicken rather than a CB. But perhaps playing next to defenders that communicate like Mertesacker will help him develop.

I definately think it is time Djourou and Squiallichi moved on, Drjourou has been going backwards for the last 12 months and Squiallichi has never fancied the Physicality of the Premiership.

Kyle Bartley has been doing well for Rangers, maybe its time to give him a chance???

Squillaci has no chance, definitely.
He's got four other centre backs in front of him, he's never going to play.

Maybe, but i would rather see him in the squad than some of the others that continually fail i.e. Squillachi andf Djourou. I would also like to see him bring in someone who can play across the back line instead of just one position.

Its too early, in the next few games we will see our team go to the next level, the more they play the better they will get. Mertesacker is what we have been missing a tower, I think he has been doing his job, which is all we ask him to do nothing more.

Djourou is a good player and still young, all he has to do is stay away from injuries and he will get his chance again, I dont want him to leave Arsenal.

I used to always think Djourou would come through and be a first class CB but he has been making some basic errors, letting balls bounce in the box, losing position easily.

I would like to see him succeed but i think this is last chance season.

A player i would definately like to see back soon is Lansbury. 2 great games for the England Under 21s and started his loan at West Ham with a bang !

Agreed. We needed a guy like Per. Man mountain

He also has an excelent injury record. Probably the best CB buy of the transfer window.

Halfway wrote:I used to always think Djourou would come through and be a first class CB but he has been making some basic errors, letting balls bounce in the box, losing position easily.

I would like to see him succeed but i think this is last chance season.

A player i would definately like to see back soon is Lansbury. 2 great games for the England Under 21s and started his loan at West Ham with a bang !

If we can get Cahil, we should loan out Diourou, it would be good for him.

Cahill has looked very assured in the England games and definately looks ready to step it up to the next level. If we could snatch him in the summer then our CB group of Vermaelen, Merdezeker, Cahill and Koscielny would look very strong.

We cant judge this team yet, so many things went wrong and most teams would have lost it all, but we are still here and fighting, I think we only have to fight off Liverpool for the CL spot.

A lot of people rated Djourou ahead of Koscielny as recent as a month ago, so I certainly wouldn't say he is on the decline. I would be very disappointed if we lost the guy, especially since he is a committed gooner, young, and we will likely need him before the end of the season. Keep the faith.

As for Mertesacker, from the first day we were ever linked to him I wanted him more than any other CB. It might have to do with the fact that I have German roots, or that I am a fan of Werder Bremen, but I have always rated the guy highly. It is too early to tell whether he will end up being a fixture in our side for years to come, but the fact that he has given a good account of himself so far makes me feel somewhat vindicated given at the beginning of the summer most people on the old forums were telling me Samba or Cahill would be a better signing

Halfway wrote:Cahill has looked very assured in the England games and definately looks ready to step it up to the next level. If we could snatch him in the summer then our CB group of Vermaelen, Merdezeker, Cahill and Koscielny would look very strong.

This defense, Hazard and Benzema we are back to winning ways.

Hazard would be a massive signing for us.

Halfway wrote:Hazard would be a massive signing for us.

I really believe that in January we can sign him, we need at least 2 Quality players to be a winning team.

Cahill I would get just because he'd be free. Then we offload Squillaci. We'd have the best freakin' defense in the PL . Who would have thought of that.

How much do u think it would take for them to sell Hazard? I think Lille will be more willing to sell in January if they drop out of the Champions League at the group stage.

I still think we need another striker. Im glad Bendnter has gone but i cant understand why Chamakh seems to have lost all confidence in his own game???

Funny enough, when people associate Arsenal with solid defence... Now, Arsene has really done it,friends and foes are confused as hell
Current Arsenal has got all the ingredients for a fast counter attack team

Halfway wrote:How much do u think it would take for them to sell Hazard? I think Lille will be more willing to sell in January if they drop out of the Champions League at the group stage.

I still think we need another striker. Im glad Bendnter has gone but i cant understand why Chamakh seems to have lost all confidence in his own game???

I think we can get Hazard for around 25 million, and yes that is what I was thinking, with Lille out of CL, they would sell him to us I hope.

Chamakh is a lost, have no Idea what is wrong with him, I still believe he has a lot to offer us.

Chamakh started so well and then he was rested for a little while. When he came back he was a lost man, reminds me of Torres at Chelsea right now.

In the air he looked so good i hope he can get back to scoring again.

If we spent that kind of money on a player so highly all around europe it would be a massive boost for the whole club.

per mertasacker is giant, if he jumps he will touch the roof of the stadium, he is a father figure to kids like arshavin

Koscielny has the biggest potential of all our cbs in my opinion. He is made for CL football. If you go back to previous Arsenal vs BVB threads, i even predicted Kos would be the MOM for us .

What he does lack is strength- which is is Achilles heel against burly PL team But surely that is something that can can be worked on? I think he has the highest passing ratio of all the cbs in the league (or its up there at least). I would not mind if he played as a cover DM for us during the Afcon months.

I am quite impressed with the German. Its already been said, but where he lacks in speed, he sure as hell makes up for it in positioning. We have tried playing with 2 ball playing cbs at once in the past Gallas-Toure, Gallas-Vermalaen, Vermalaen-Kos, Kos-squallaci... and its safe to say that those partnerships never worked. In mertesacker we have some one who will not be as mobile in attack, but will be a beast during those set piece plays (iliminating majority of the problems of last year). All in all our defense looks quite good... although bringing in a Samba or a Cahill would be not bad of an idea.

Sagna---Mer---Cahill/Samba---Vermanator
-----------Wilshere------Koscielny

Good luck penetrating against that defense!

mertesacker has been great. but with a team at full strength (which never happens, smh) im fine with any combo of vermaelen, koscielny, and mertesacker.


verm and kos did really well to start the season, kos and mertesacker are solid now, and we know that verm and Mertesacker would be sex.

adding Cahill isnt even necessary imo, but i'll take him if we can get him.

Let's not jinx him, shall we? He's solid so far, couple of more games then we can see which combo is the best.

Remind me of Sunderland game last year when Toto & Kozz were insane. That one turns out well. Not saying Per is the same but the reaction was somewhat familiar.