Arsenal: Per Mertesacker shows exactly what is missing

Shkodran Mustafi has revealed that Per Mertesacker held a team meeting to help turn around Arsenal’s desperate form. The German shows exactly what is absent: Leadership.

Arsenal were in a rut.

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They had toiled through a miserable January, losing to Bournemouth and Swansea City, seeing their top-four hopes slide between their fingers. They had lost to Manchester City, twice, 3-0, including in a cup final. They had crumbled away at Brighton. They then had to travel to Milan to face a team that hadn’t lost in 13 matches, hadn’t conceded in almost 10 hours of football, in the only competition of importance for the remainder of the season. Failure, it seemed, was inevitable.

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But, however, unlikely it seemed, Arsenal battled to a 2-0 victory with a steeled, strong, striking performance that contradicted all that had preceded it. Since that time, they are yet to fail to win. When asked about the turnaround, Shkodran Mustafi spoke of a crucial team meeting in which grievances were aired, commitments were reiterated, and change was initiated:

"“Everyone knew it was a difficult period. The meeting was about trying to listen to different opinions, different ideas and different feelings, and I think we found a way to try to change a bit. It’s not that easy because one meeting is not going to change a lot, especially not during the season when you’re playing every three days, but it was important to speak our opinions out loud. Overall it was about giving 110 percent to try to get out of it, and I think we managed it well.”"

He attributes the meeting to club-captain Per Mertesacker. Mertesacker, who has taken a clear backseat this season with his impending retirement at the end of the year, still carries an attribute that is painfully lacking within this squad, and has been lacking for many, many years: Leadership.

Character, commitment, resolve, fight, leadership. They are all traits that Arsene Wenger has always protested his squad to possess. In actuality, though, that is just not the case. While there may be times when it shines through, like said meeting that Mustafi refers to, it is not consistent, it is not everpresent.

This is a team that folds and flounders. It does not fight. Mertesacker is certainly a battling personality, someone who is prepared to lead, to challenge, to criticise, and to sharpen. But there are two issues: The first is that one individual in a whole dressing room is not enough; the second is that he will depart in the summer.

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Arsenal need leaders. Unfortunately, they are not necessarily the type of players that you can buy. It comes with experience and understanding. Outsourcing leadership isn’t really a smart thing to do. Nevertheless, without it, this team is going nowhere.