How does he compare to the other rumoured transfer targets from the summer, Gary Cahill and Christoper Samba though? Cahill has since moved to Chelsea from Bolton and Samba put in a transfer request at Blackburn before joining Anzhi Makchakala, both had tough seasons at the bottom end of the table. For ease of use I’ll only be looking at Cahill at Bolton.
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Cahill is more of an active defender, however he is less efficient. Noticeably, Mertesacker is the only one to have made any last man tackles. Despite the fact that he tries to avoid them, Arsenal’s high line is something that would be difficult to adapt to and he has been forced into a few. Despite his lack of pace, he has been dribbled past the least of the 3, even more impressive when you factor in the high line. Disappointingly, Samba and Cahill contribute significantly to attacks, whereas Mertesacker has done very little. I often feel he should be more of a threat at corners, although his lack of aggression often lets him down in the rough and tumble scenarios of these set pieces. Frustratingly, and possibly a by-product of his days at Werder Bremen, he often goes up front and stays there when Arsenal are in need of a goal. The frustrating aspect of this being that he plays for Arsenal, route one football is an anathema to Wenger and as a result Mertesacker is often left standing about while a player of more use attacking-wise has to cover for his absence.
After his tumble on the disgraceful pitch at the Stadium of Light, we won’t get to see Mertesacker again until next season, possibly the Euros. Despite a few growing pains, I’ve really been impressed with the qualities he has brought to our defence, which before this season was more twitchy, nervous and implosive than calm, calculating and efficient. His wry smile and later admission of love for the ‘Big f***ing German, we’ve got a…’ chant endeared him to me even more and I for one can’t wait to see him back.
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