Per Mertesacker

Will be great to have him back in the squad.

Welcome back BFG!

Sorry but he is surplus to requirements . We should have replaced him 2 years ago but as usual we didnt and now we have expensive coverage . This should be his last season with us. Thanks Per but cherio .

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Per as a starter, probably not.
Per as a backup/rotation, absolutely yes.

We need a backup with the big game experience.

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possibly until seasons end ronniec but then we will have Chambers ,Holding Gabriel as back up to the Kostafi partnership which is enough I think !
Heā€™s another player on mahooosive wages ,too much to have as a reserve metinks ! If we are going to pay Ozil and Sanchez what they are worth we will have to stop overpaying the mediocre ! ! !

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Agree that we should keep him till season end.
Then the team can evaluate if he is still able to contribute and decide (one year extension).

So far Holding does not have enough appearances to show his true abilities and potentials, and Chambers and Gabriel are not convincing. They could be another Ox on the team. IMO other than Kos and Mustafi, we donā€™t really have a ā€œreliableā€ 3rd CB yet.

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Iā€™ve always been a Per fan and I think having him in the squad as a 3rd/4th choice CB given his experience and leadership qualities is absolutely the right thing to do.

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Iā€™ve always been a big fan too, In the past I didnā€™t really appreciate the importance of intelligence in football until Mert highlighted how physical limitations can be easily negated through intelligent reading of the game. I learnt to watch football in a different way tbh

Heā€™s one of the victims of the modern fan obsession with ā€˜paceā€™ which is large perpetuated by Fifa video games. As a result his contributions to this club on and off the pitch are very underrated and under appreciated. Rare breed of defender.

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Been saying this for years. Per is a very intelligent player and an excellent reader of the game. I legitimately believe heā€™s responsible for Koscielnyā€™s improvement over the last few seasons because his intelligent reading of the game and the manner in which he lead the defence would almost certainly have impacted Koshā€™s improvement.

People are so driven by this obsession that a football player is essentially redundant unless he has pace that Per is a victim of it. Like you said, itā€™s the FIFA obsessed people who believe the rubbish.

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^ this.

His pace causing us troubles is a total myth really.

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Right.
I believe Perā€™s pace caused us troubles partly because Wenger played a high defense line, occasionally Kos had a hot head, and Ramsey/Ox/DM lost possession on our own 3rd in a stupid way.

Donā€™t get me wrong. I am a huge believer in athletes being athletes first and foremost. To succeed typically requires an individual to have a combination of strength, guile, tenacity and instinct etc

However there are occasionally successful players that break that mold. For me, Per is one of those. He works almost harmoniously with Kos, I find his football akin to a move in a game of chess. Well thought out, prepared and precise.

As a first choice there was always room for improvement, however much like his lumbering counterpart Giroud, as a backup option, he is sheer class.

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I actually agreed of what you saidā€¦ :slight_smile:

Mustafi has come in as the perfect long term replacement for Per, but as mentioned earlier in this thread, thereā€™s no harm in keeping him for another year or two as 3rd or 4th choice centre back. Still a great personality to have around, as well as very experienced.

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Canā€™t see this happening :thinking:

I can, how many match day squads is he going to make once heā€™s back?

Heā€™ll barely kick a ball for us.

If Jack can go out on loan he can too.

I think heā€™d rather chill out at home while looking for a new club before he ever went out on loan for us.

Jackā€™s and Perā€™s situation are sooooo not comparable.

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Iā€™m not directly comparing them, simply put no one is above loaned out.

And their situations arenā€™t so far apart anyway, both needing to prove they can contribute to the the club for the bulk of a season.