Arsenal: Per Mertesacker desperation is just too appropriate

Arsenal’s plight in terms of team selection against Chelsea should feel familiar, yet completely foreign. But the familiarity is just too appropriate.

Arsenal has finally come out of the woods in terms of having to rely on players that are past their prime or not good enough. Or just not having enough players to find any sort of security. There were so many years of relying on the likes of Mikel Arteta and Mathieu Flamini when it was clear that their best years were behind them.

But with injuries and inconsistency, they were still relied upon as every day players.

That has gone into the rear view mirror. Arsenal has been relying on actual, proven, young, primed stalwarts like Granit Xhaka, Alexis Sanchez, Shkodran Mustafi and more. The defense is no longer a party of three like it was just a few years ago, when a single injury could throw the entire season in jeopardy.

For far too long, the Gunners ran with Per Mertesacker, Laurent Koscielny and Thomas Vermaelen as their only center backs. A single injury and all of a sudden you are in one hell of a pickle. Two injuries and it’s game over.

But here we are, arguably the biggest game we’ve had in years, a definitive game before a definitive summer, and Per Mertesacker is starting for the first time all year.

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There was already enough to talk about with the big German. He was the captain of the team, yet he did not feature all year, not even as a substitute. He was a leader in the locker room, but was never seen on the pitch.

Now, as Arsene Wenger futures is in doubt and a new formation is in play and no one knows what this summer holds, we turn to the German, who captained the Gunners through their debt years, to hold down the back line as the center of three backs (most likely) against the Premier League Champion Chelsea.

It’s okay if you’re not feeling too confident about this. It would be weird if you were. But we will have to beat the Blues with the same plague that held this club back for years. The plague of not having enough options.

The back line for the FA Cup final will be – barring any bizarre updates – Rob Holding, Mertesacker and Nacho Monreal. That is a very flimsy back line that will have to stand up to Diego Costa.

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But the motivation is there. You can argue the ability is there. And with several people returning form injury elsewhere, we may be able to overcome this lecherous fiend from the past.

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