Per Mertesacker has revealed how ‘easy’ it was to start for Arsenal against Chelsea in the FA Cup final despite being sidelined for a whole season.
Mertesacker has revealed in an interview with Standard Sport that his 14 years of experience playing football at the top level allowed him to step into the match against Chelsea back in May without any trouble.
“[The Final] was just one shot,” Mertesacker said.
“No-one expected anything out of me. It was low key, quite easy.
“It was something I did for more than 14 years, just coming in and believing in my game. I know the trust of the player and the boss in me was huge that day.
“A lot of fans were surprised with the line-up we played [with Rob Holding and Nacho Monreal partnering Mertesacker in defence] but the way we played and the way we looked was good. But that’s easy, it’s just one game. I need to prepare so I can do that more regularly.”
Mertesacker was called upon to captain Arsenal in the FA Cup final against Chelsea after playing just 37 minutes all season due to Laurent Koscielny getting red-carded and Gabriel suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury during the final Premier League match of the season against Everton.
The German had been out all season following knee surgery the previous summer and many believed that Arsenal were done for with him in the starting line-up at Wembley.
Fans, pundits and Chelsea players were taken aback, however, when the 32-year-old not only put in a decent performance, but was one of the best players on the pitch.
After the match, Martin Keown hailed the centre-back, telling BT Sport, “Mertesacker was unbelievable. To come in after 37 minutes this season…
“He was a lion at the back in the makeshift back three.”
As Mertesacker told Keown in the tunnel post-match, don’t write him off.
The defender will be hoping for another ‘easy’ match against Chelsea in the Community Shield on Sunday.
The Gunners have already faced Antonio Conte’s side in pre-season this summer in Bejing and they lost 3-0. Therefore, they’re really going to need to pull it out the bag if they’re going to get a result at Wembley.
Fortunately, this time, Arsene Wenger will be fielding a stronger team that’s far closer to the starting XI he’ll be putting out against Leicester during the first match of the season on 11 August.