Arsenal Problems Explicitly Defined By Per Mertesacker

Arsenal have a painful void when it comes to who is the leader of the team, and Per Mertesacker keeps unwittingly shirking the position that could be his.

Whatever happened to the good old days when Arsenal was a solid defensive unit? Their defense recently has been atrocious. It hasn’t even been a matter of being outwitted by a brilliant attacking play. It has been a matter of boneheaded mistakes that could easily have been prevented. These often times lead to wide open attempts at goal for the opposing team.

Consider Per Mertesacker slacking and letting Wayne Routledge in behind him. Consider Gabriel against Manchester United, letting 18 year old Marcus Rashford alone. Consider Mertesacker’s no-look tackle that lead to a red card against Chelsea.

What do all of these situations have in common? These, among many others, all involve Per Mertesacker or Gabriel Paulista, the two guys that are competing for the spot next to Laurent Koscielny.

There is no defensive solidity anymore. Which is amazing considering that three of the four back line positions are air tight. It is that one gap in the middle of the defense that is causing Arsenal so much problems. The blame there has to fall on Per Mertesacker.

The German and his Brazilian competition, Gabriel, have been swapping mistakes all season, with neither one able to claim the role. It has looked so resolutely in the hands of one or the other, but a silly mistakes always emerges to put the boots on the other person’s feet.

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Mertesacker, as the captain, has to beheld accountable. He has been gifted a chance to rejuvenate his career at least three times this year and each time he has found a new way to muff it up. Hard to maintain a leadership role when you can’t even maintain your starting position because you can’t maintain focus.

It has been a frustrating year for these two, but for Gabriel, it’s a bit more excusable. He has only been at Arsenal a little over a year and his starts have been limited. Plus, he has looked good more than he has looked bad. Although when he looks bad he looks terrible.

Per Mertesacker, on the other hand, has been in this league since 2011. He knows what he is doing back there and as I pointed out in my rather ill-timed praise-piece of Mertesacker, age should not be affecting his game as much as it is. He has intelligence and size. Neither one is going to leave him any time soon.