Arsenal: Per Mertesacker dead on with assessment of teammate

Arsenal has been captained by Per Mertesacker for quite some time, so when he says something, everyone should listen. Yet again, he’s spot on.

Arsenal’s nervy win over Doncaster had plenty of talking points. For starters, when Calum Chambers left the game, everything changed. Also, as Jack Wilshere‘s influence became plagued by exhaustion, that downward trajectory continued.

But more importantly, there were good things. Wilshere returned, and he looked like a brand new man. I was trying to think of the best way to sum of what was so different with him and ended up opting for simply saying that he looked more mature, but Per Mertesacker has done a much more concise job of expressing what was different.

Take it away, BFG:

“You can see that he’s getting more comfortable with his position now. He’s brave now and he trusts his body.”

“He trusts his body,” is the part in particular that I think says all that needs to be said.

You could see a lot of the vintage Jack Wilshere in the match. His passing was on point, he was dogged in his efforts to win back the ball and push forward. But he was also cool and composed in possession, surveying his options and not rushing anything

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He was in control. Everything came and went through him and he was never that far from a developing attack. Nor was he that far from mounting the defense.

This control that we saw goes along with that Mertesacker has pinpointed. He trusted his body to do what needed to be done. His mind and his body were together throughout the match. Again, he trailed off there at the end as fitness left him, but for the most part, his mind and body were together.

It may sound silly, but how often have we seen the mind of Jack Wilshere pushing his body into stacked defenses, trying to force the issue and then he writhes on the ground with another injury. This is a show of great, mindful intentions, but a body that he didn’t necessarily have a full grasp of.

It was different against Doncaster. He didn’t ask his body to do anything that it shouldn’t be doing. he didn’t put it in any sort of situation where it could get into trouble.

He trusted it.

I’m speaking of it like it’s a separate entity, but when you’re constantly getting injured, it can most certainly feel that way. You can feel like your body is against you and you can start to distrust it and almost hide from it.

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That didn’t happen against Doncaster. He trusted his body completely and it lead to a very confident performance.

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