Per Mertesacker wants to teach Arsenal’s youngsters how to deal with victories and defeats properly.
Mertesacker isn’t just the current Arsenal captain, he’s also becoming head of the Gunners’ academy once his playing contract expires at the end of the season.
The centre-back wants to be able to help younger players deal with winning and losing the right way.
“For me, I didn’t learn that so much because Germany didn’t lose many games!”Per joked.
“I remember there were seasons where we would go unbeaten in 70 or 80 games because we used to play lots of friendlies, lots of tournaments and our generation was unbelievable. We broke loads of records, won the Nike Premier Cup, which is basically a World Cup – actually we won that here in the UK. The final was at Old Trafford.
“Even if we drew a game, everyone would be crying or would be very disappointed because it was very hard for us to take.
“As we grew older, obviously we got more bad results, but it still didn’t happen very often so losing was really hard for us. If we went to a tournament and lost a final, loads of players used to cry. What they did teach us though was that, when we’d won a final, before we celebrated, we made sure we took care of the players on the other team.
“Not too long ago, Barcelona won an award because the players were consoling the other kids after winning a game. You could see the players saying to the others, “There’s nothing wrong, you’ve only lost a game, life goes on.” They were really young, but those are the kinds of morals they teach you over there. I’m really happy to carry them with me today.”
Bad winners and losers can make put a downer on any sport and, unfortunately, there are still plenty in football. However, at Arsenal, it’s good to see when players console the opposition after a final victory.
Arsenal’s Per Mertesacker. Picture: Per Mertesacker’s Twitter account.
Similarly, whether the Gunners win or lose, the players go across and thank the traveling fans during away games. This shows respect, class and gratitude to the people who more or less put them where they are now and show up rain or shine.
Mertesacker’s moral compass is obviously pointing in the right direction and it’s comforting to see the 32-year-old trying to instill this in younger players.
While it’s crucial that the players care when we lose, just as they should celebrate a win, it’s equally as important that they bounce back and go into the next game with a fresh outlook. This appears to be a real stumbling block for some players who seem to get stuck in a rut when we lose… ‘ave a word, Per.
