Arsenal: Per Mertesacker Indicates Recurring Issue

Arsenal have had several things go wrong this year, but in the long haul, a major recurring problem has emerged thanks to Per Mertesacker’s frustrations.

As a top-flight team, Arsenal always figures to have some irreplaceable players. Mesut Ozil, for instance. Alexis Sanchez. These are guys that it is going to be hard to find competition for, especially at Arsenal, where spending isn’t a recreational activity.

But those are top tier guys.

Arsenal have a had a well-documented lack of depth over the past decade or so. Some of that is a result of the debt years and not having an excess of spending money, but lately, there has been more ability to provide depth and therefore provide internal competition.

Yet that hasn’t always been the case. For instance, Francis Coquelin is still our only defensive midfielder. We’ve also been the victims of Olivier Giroud’s fluctuating form. Giroud has not had legitimate competition since Welbeck arrived, and by arrived, I don’t mean when he was signed, I mean when he arrived into relevance, which began approximately a month ago.

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Before that, it was all Giroud. Giroud even mentioned that he had never been in a situation like that (being benched) before. Theo Walcott was the first guy to ever pass Giroud at Arsenal.

At the time, it didn’t seem like such a fundamental flaw. But now that we have heard the same sentiments a second time, this time from Per Mertesacker, we have to ask questions.

“I have to admit that this is something new to me. I have been around for quite a while and this has not happened to me before. I am fully match fit, but I am not playing as much as before,” Mertesacker said, via Goal.com.