Tuesday 27 October 2015

Sackboy could leave Arsenal

Okay, don't shoot the messenger. It's just a theory, but Per 'Sackboy' Mertesacker's mysterious illnesses make me wonder if his time at Arsenal is nearly up.

He's come in for a lot of criticism for his lack of pace and, although I'm a fan of the big German, rank defending at times. I'd like to see him stay at Arsenal and turn his fortunes around as, after all, he is still an asset.

Even after the first illness ruled him out earlier on in the season, I thought that time was up for Per. Now he's recovered all too quickly from his second mysterious illness in time for the Sheffield Wednesday game, it seems that 'illness' is a euphemism for 'dropped'.

As I don't think Mertesacker will want to be second fiddle to Gabriel, I won't be surprised if the German moves on in January. Arsenal fans will have to hope a replacement is found, if that is the case.


Sent from my iPhone

3 comments:

  1. Sorry but I completely disagree with this. Per is vastly experienced and makes up for his lack of pace by reading the game. You only need to look as recently as Bayern Munich to see how important his experience and solidity is. There is no way Wenger would let him go in January as we need 3 top class CBs minimum to sustain a title challenge. A very irrational theory in my opinion.

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  2. I'm not saying Wenger wants Per to leave. I just don't believe he's been ill twice this season. I think he was dropped both times and may want to leave for regular first-team football elsewhere.

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  3. Perhaps in the summer, if Gabriel becomes solid 1st choice (which he isn't yet). No way in January, it's just not realistic. Even in the summer, he would only leave if we got someone young and of top quality, like John Stones, to challenge LK and GP. Otherwise, Per's experience (don't forget he's also effectively the captain!) and tactical awareness will be too valuable to let him leave, and frankly I'm far from convinced he'd want to go anyway.

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