By Walter Broeckx
I was sitting in front of my computer when someone from our Arsenal Belgium supporters club posted a link to an article on the internet about Per Mertesacker.
In this article it said that Per Mertesacker would stop his football career and would join the staff in another function for his last season of his contract at Arsenal.
I started to get out my handkarchief to start a long cry. I have always been a great fan and admirer of our BFG.
Even in his German playing days (the days I watched all kind of football all the time) I was a big fan of him. I admired him because the fact that he had such a way to position himself to make defending look easy and simple. Yes he wasn’t the fastest guy around but that didn’t stop him to become a certainty in every German national team for more than a decade.
And on top of that he did this while making very few fouls and hardly getting any yellow cards. He was a clean defender. He didn’t need to go in from behind like a madman on attackers and ruin their health. No he was a defender like it should be done. Sticking out his long leg to stop the ball from arriving at the attacker from behind so that the striker couldn’t even reach the ball.
I loved him and when I found out that he would come to Arsenal I was very happy. I hated the way the critics tried to undermine this great player. And when Per won the World cup with Germany I was so happy for him and proud that he was an Arsenal player. Like Özil and Podolski by the way.
I loved the way he always made good contact with the fans. He was always ready to stay on the pitch after a match to applaud the fans for their support. He became captain and was stricken by the curse that has hit our last captains. Vermaelen and Arteta both faced long term injuries and sat on the bench mostly in their last season. And so it looked that it would happen again with Per.
I was in Lens when he played a great match and showed a nervous Bielik how to defend and how to win confidence. He tackled and blocked and one of those tackles saw him getting a serious knee injury. He played till the end of that match and then was ruled out for a long period. And he didn’t get any chance to get back in the team.
Till last week. He was my man of the match in the FA cup final. His long legs, his heading, his blocking…. he was there all the time to prevent Chelsea becoming really dangerous.
And now I read he could stop…… breaking my heart. It looked at google…. yes the Mirror, the Daily Mail all had reports about Per stopping as a player and finishing his last year of his contract in another position.
I then thought…. let me ad the German sites to my search…. and lo and behold…. I found this
So that is something completely different from what is being said in the British media and in the Arsenal blog world.
And I must say that when I read this and if you follow this link and understand German you can hear Per himself saying it http://www.sport1.de/internationaler-fussball/premier-league/2017/06/fc-arsenal-per-mertesacker-kuendigt-karriereende-an
Mind you the title is contradicts what Per is saying*. So I can understand this is highly confusing but the most important thing is that I have heard Per saying it himself and as I do understand German I know what he said.
So I could put away my handkerchief, dry up my eyes and start singing this song I so love to hear singing: We’ve got a Big F*cking German, A BFG, AAAAAAA BFG, We got a BFG!
Per is 32 years old and he is getting a bit older but his cup final performance has shown that when it is needed he can still perform at the highest level and show that even against the champions of the PL was there to block their best strikers from becoming dangerous.
So well Per didn’t break my heart (yet as he will stop one day of course) and it is once again an example that one cannot believe anything the big media and some other blogs write and publish.
Lucky we have media from other countries and that I can understand a few languages myself so I could find out what he really said.
Love you Per, always have done and wish you a very successful next season at the Arsenal and as the Arsenal captain!
*Walter – you should know by now, you just can’t trust these headline writers
- Arsenal season ticket holder issues his own press statement.
- We live in a world that has more news outlets than ever before, and yet we live in a world of make believe.
- How the role of the UK’s media is changing, is being rescued by the state but could be overthrown by social media.
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So all’s well that ends well!
“Alternative reality” strikes again!! Why ‘bend’ truth for a few coins and clicks?
I think that he has another two seasons at least , before he decides to slow down.
I was not all nervous or unduly worried when he stepped in after the other two were injured.
So carry on Per , as you were.
If Per Mertrsacker will not fuck up in his centreback defending for Arsenal next season, we of the Arsenal supporters will be happy.that’s said, Le Prof should be proactive by taking proactive measure not to totally depends on BFG to do a centre back job for Arsenal on a long run in the mist of the three Arsenal centrebacks if Le Prof will continues with this three centre back playing formation at the back. Mert’ is aging and going slower and slower as you have noted. But notwithstanding his advancing age and going slower, his sense of correct positioning at the back gives advantage that almost negate his becoming aging and going slower as he has proved in the FA Cup final against Chelsea last season when Diego Costa succeeded once to breach Arsenal three man centre backs defending. I think Le Prof should use him sparingly next season will keeping Calum Chambers as an option.
It has surprisingly been reported on the B/R quoting Sky Sports sources that Juventus bid of £14m for Wojcieck Szcesney transfer has been accepted by Arsenal. If this rumour turns out to be true against all expectations in the Gooners camp. It be unparalleled decision taken by Le Prof to let go a home grown top quality goalkeeper after investing heavily on him for years to see him becomes one of the top goalkeepers around. And not only that to have sold him on the cheap is more baffling for that matter. Why no sell him to Juve for £28m instead of the £14m he was purportedly sold for if he must be sold. If it is Juve’ that have such a top quality goalkeeper of Szczesny’s caliber, would they have agreed to sell him to Arsenal for £14m? But Arsene knows best.
I have always admired how comfortable in possession he his a great outlet.
Mustafi is okay, but in the cup final it showed just how we have missed this.
Perhaps Bellerin has suffered a bit this season not having the big man next to him.
Sad news about Cheick Tiote, 30 years old….
Knobby – true. I cannot understand how this seems to be particular to African players. A few seem to have died or come close in sudden health attacks.
Walter,
While on the subject of the BFG, it’s worth remembering that to most ‘experts’ he’s shite, like the rest of the Arsenal team.Gives me a chuckle. I just watched an interview with Mesut Ozil on the Arsenal web site where he discusses coming to AFC. A good watch but I’m writing because of the photo accompanying the article. Here’s Ozil holding the WORLD CUP with the German national team. Prominent in the foreground – Mertesacker and Mustafi! Three World Cup winners but our boys are not ‘top, top class…world class’, etc. Then how the fuck DO you define world class? The UEFA champions? Not a competition the U.K. clubs excel at. Again, what’s the definition? Soooo tired of these fuckers. Tell them to fuck off, it’s not 1960. (apologies for the language but it really winds me up)
Walter, you almost gave me a heart attack. Not the wisest thing to do in a world full of aaa-s.
For me, Per will be the absolute joker in the back 3. he can just join the line-up and we know he’ll deliver.
What better security can we have ?
Furthermore, he is a real leader and from all I’ve read and seen, he teaches the youn guns, leads by example
Kos is going to have permanent worries with his Achilles from what I read. So a backup like Per is invaluable.
And he won’t be bitching if he does not play every game.
So to me, Arsenal is stronger with him in the team.
And seriously, considering his Per-formance in the final, can we afford to lose such an element, where the defence has for more than a decade been labelled as ‘soft’ and not capable of resisting to teams like Chelsea ?
I’ll never forget that moment were Per, Holding an I believe Nacho all threw themselves in front of a Chelsea player, making his shot just impossible.
@ goonersince72 -05/06/2017 at 5:56 pm – Most commentators , journos , self confessed experts and ex-players , that deride the Arsenal , in most likelyhood are from a certain part of that country that really and truly hate us.
If fact by the most strangest(?) of coincidences , so too are the national referees !
The fact remains that it’s been more than 50 years that the WC was last in their hands . Won at home . And that too it was that old trophy .
And probably another 50 years before it will return, if improvements are undertaken now.
Unless of course …..if some poor wretched and undeserving country that was ‘strangely ‘ awarded the WC games , suddenly find themselves Persona Non Grata ?
For those of you who like most us here on UA of don’t follow International games and the WC (NOR GIVE A SH*T!) , the next two upcoming WC games holders are Russia and Qatar .
Hmmmmm ….hmmmm !
Brickfields – wonderful to see the ‘worlds’ TV bidding for the games from empty stadia. I cannot see the WC happening until the whole system is cleansed of its filthy bias. The ball is waiting to be kicked but it’s the organisation that should be kicked first.