Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker Profile
Born	September 29, 1984 Hannover, Germany
Position:	Defender
Squad Number:	4
Previous Club(s)	Werder Bremen, Hannover 96

July

Per played twice in July and helped Arsenal keep clean sheets against a Singapore Select XI and Lyon on their way to the Barclays Asia Trophy and Emirates Cup. Speaking on the tour of Singapore, the World Cup winner said: “The belief is still there - we always had a certain belief in ourselves - and to win trophies back to back is something special, but let’s add that little extra to be a competitor for the whole season.”

August

Per played three times in August, most notably captaining the side to a 1-0 victory over Chelsea in the Community Shield. He also started against West Ham and Crystal Palace but missed the Liverpool and Newcastle games due to illness.

September

Per played three times in September. The World Cup winner was ruled out for most of the month due to an illness but returned to help Arsenal beat Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 at White Hart Lane in the Capital One Cup.

October

Per played five times during October, helping Arsenal keep clean sheets against Swansea City, Watford, Bayern Munich and Manchester United. During the the 2-0 win against Bayern Munich, Mertesacker played an important part in Olivier Giroud’s opening goal. Speaking afterwards, Arsene Wenger said: “I saw that our players wanted to play it short and I thought that with Giroud on the pitch, Mertesacker and Koscielny and they were playing quite a high line on the free-kick we had a very good chance to score there.”

November

Per played five times during November and helped Arsenal keep a clean sheet against Dinamo Zagreb. The German defender featured in the fixtures with Bayern Munich, Tottenham, West Brom, Dinamo Zagreb and Norwich City.

December

Per played six times during December and helped the Gunners keep cleans sheets against Olympiacos, Aston Villa and Bournemouth.

August

After his World Cup heroics with Germany, Per returned to training with Mesut Ozil and Lukas Podolski following an extended summer break. The 29-year-old announced his retirement from international football before the start of the domestic season, after 104 caps for the world champions. Per made his first appearance of the season against Everton before helping Arsenal keep a clean sheet against Besiktas to secure Champions League football for the 17th successive season. Speaking after the 1-1 draw against Leicester City, Per said: "We have to take this draw and after three games [to have] five points... it's just OK for us to start like that. We went through to the Champions League group stage and had two away games so five points [is OK]. I think we have to regroup and come back after the international break."

September

Per appeared in all of Arsenal’s games in September. Speaking after the draw against Tottenham, he said: “We know that we have good team spirit in the dressing room so we have to show it on the pitch. Today we showed it in a good way but I think we can do better, much better.”

October

Per played every minute of Arsenal’s October matches, leading them out four times in Mikel Arteta’s absence. The German also oversaw a clean sheet against Sunderland in their final game of the month. “We have to do better with our own possession to put more pressure on the [opposition], not lose so many balls in the middle of the park and play more in the wide areas,” Per said after the Anderlecht win. “However, the finishing is just great at the moment and that keeps me believing and in a good mood."

November

Per played every single minute of Arsenal’s November matches, leading the Gunners out on two occasions in Mikel Arteta’s absence and helping keep three clean sheets, against Burnley, Borussia Dortmund and West Bromwich Albion.

December

Per played every single minute in December and led the team out on all seven occasions in Mikel Arteta’s absence, helping the Gunners keep a clean sheet against Southampton at the start of the month.

January

Per continued his ever-present run in Arsene Wenger’s team, leading Arsenal out four times in January and helping them keep three consecutive clean sheets. The former Germany centre back also scored his first goal since last season’s FA Cup semi-final against Wigan Athletic, a header in the Gunners’ 2-0 third-round win over Hull City.

February

Per continued his vice-captain duties throughout February, missing only one game and leading the team out on five occasions. Speaking after the Champions League defeat against Monaco, the German said: “We never give up. That’s always the sense of our game, even if the expectations will be low now. It’s easy to write us off now but it’s just half-time. A lot of things can happen over there and we will try.”

March

Per made four appearances in March, continuing to lead Arsenal out in the absence of Mikel Arteta. The World Cup winner also helped Arsenal keep back-to-back clean sheets against West Ham United and Monaco. Speaking ahead of the Queens Park Rangers game, Arsene Wenger said: “Per has a great mental stature that is absolutely remarkable, and his contribution to the team has been excellent.”

April

Per continued to captain Arsenal in Mikel Arteta’s absence, leading the team for all four matches in April. The World Cup winner also helped the Gunners secure back-to-back Premier League clean sheets at the end of the month against Burnley and Chelsea. Speaking after the FA Cup semi-final, Per said: “It is a little progress [and] it would be a great honour, back to back FA Cup wins. We were knocked out of the Champions League and that was a big blow for us but after that we responded and it is a great achievement.”

May

Per played all six games in May and captained Arsenal to a record 12th FA Cup victory, scoring the third goal in the 4-0 win against Aston Villa at Wembley. Speaking afterwards, he said: “It’s always good to score and that was a decisive moment in the game to put us 3-0 up. It was a great feeling and we are a great unit. Collectively, we were absolutely great.”

August

Per skippered the side in all four of Arsenal's games in the opening few weeks of the season. The German defender showed his experience in the vital Champions League qualifying games as he marshalled the defence to two clean sheets as Arsenal cruised into the group stages. "It's nice to be captain," he told Arsenal Player. "It's an unusual situation for me so but we have a lot of players who take responsibility so it's not only me."

September

Per made five appearances for the Gunners in September. The German defender missed out on the Sunderland game after picking up a small injury during the international break. Per skippered the side in three of their six games in the month and scored Arsenal's second goal in the 3-1 win over Stoke City. The 29-year-old continued his blossoming partnership with Laurent Koscielny at the heart of Arsenal's defence. "I have a good opinion about him and our partnership is a good one at the moment but we have to keep proving that," Per told Arsenal Player after the 2-1 win over Swansea.

October

Per made five appearances in October as his partnership with Laurent Koscielny continued to flourish. Arguably Per's best performance came against Crystal Palace when he made a couple of crucial last-ditch tackles after the Gunners were reduced to 10 men. "We want to surprise people more and more, that is what we need to do but we do not look too much at the other sides," Per said after the win at Selhurst Park. "We are in a strong and interesting position, so we are aware of it and try to keep it - but that is the difficult thing, to keep it."

November

Per played in five of Arsenal's six games in November as his partnership with Laurent Koscielny in central defence continued to go from strength to strength. The German international won the penalty which was scored by Olivier Giroud against Southampton and he also scored the winner for Germany in their win over England at Wembley. After the Southampton game, Per said: "It's always good to start well after the [international] break. We fought hard to keep a clean sheet and it was important to switch on quickly. Our mentality is at a very high level at the moment."

December

Per was ever-present for Arsenal in December. The Germany defender continued to impress with more solid displays at the back, most notably in the goalless draw with Chelsea and the 1-0 win over Newcastle. Per scored his second goal of the season against Manchester City.

January

Per featured in all six of Arsenal's games in January. The German defender replaced the injured Thomas Vermaelen in the FA Cup win over Tottenham and helped the team to further clean sheets against Fulham and Coventry City. "It is really tight at the top. At the moment, there is no chance to drop any points," he said after the Aston Villa win. "We have to show the other teams that when we feel the pressure we can respond. "That is vital so I’m really happy with the fighting performance in the second half and how resilient we were."

February

Per was ever-present for Arsenal in February. Despite a disappointing defeat to Liverpool in the league, his partnership with Laurent Koscielny continued to gel as they notched up two more clean sheets at home against Crystal Palace and Manchester United. Speaking after the FA Cup win against Liverpool, Per said: "It was obviously very important for us, after the defeat at Anfield. That defeat was a massive blow for us but we came back in the FA Cup. It was a different competition and a different game. "The first goal was key. Fabianski kept us in the game several times. It was very important to get a good performance and after Liverpool's early chance we were much better in the game. We deserved our first goal and the second one was vital as well."

March

Per signed a new contract with the club and played in all of Arsenal's fixtures in March. Along with centre-back partner Laurent Koscielny, the German produced one of his best displays of the season in the 1-0 win at Tottenham. Speaking after the Champions League exit to Bayern, Per said: "We tried everything [in the second leg], especially in the last 10 minutes. We tried to track them over the whole place, we got some balls in good situations but didn't manage to score. "We had to score twice so we were two goals away from the quarter-finals. That is a lot so I think they deserved overall to win, especially because of the first game. "But I think we take some positive things out of the game and we will try to stick to them. If we maintain our defensive level we'll have a good season. We want to finish strong, we want to do the same as last year and we have a decent chance."

April

Per didn't miss a minute of Arsenal's games in April. The defender scored a vital late equaliser in the FA Cup semi-final against Wigan before the Gunners progressed to the final on penalties. The Germany international was integral in helping Arsenal return to form in their final three games of the month. "We can learn a lot [from this season]," he said. "Last year we managed to deal with an even more difficult situation as with 10 games to go no-one expected us to be in the top four. "This year, with a couple of injuries we struggled heavily but we regrouped very well and how we managed this situation was even more important maybe than last year."

May

Per played 90 minutes in the 1-0 win at home to West Bromwich Albion but was rested for Arsenal's final league game of the campaign at Norwich. The German returned to the starting line-up for the FA Cup final and couldn't hide his delight after Arsenal claimed their first trophy since 2005. "The targets for any football player is to get this atmosphere, to smell this atmosphere," he told Arsenal Player. "It's my first time in England and we have to enjoy it but it's going to be a great ambition to come back here one day. "At one stage it's enjoyable to be here and it's a happy day for the fans and all the players together. It gives us more confidence to create more of that."

August

Per played in Arsenal's first two matches of the season, helping the team keep clean sheets against Sunderland and Stoke. “I think we have a better situation than last year,” he said. “The team is full of characters, good players and every position [has competition]."

September

Per featured four times in September, forging a fine partnership with Thomas Vermaelen in the process. The German centre back was named Man of the Match after an excellent performance in the 1-1 draw with Manchester City at Etihad Stadium.

October

Per continued to perform well during October, making four appearances and helping the Club to victories over Norwich and QPR. Fellow defender Laurent Koscielny praised the German’s performances, saying: "I am happy for Per because he’s a nice guy, very important in the dressing room. He’s a joker so he’s good for the team. I’m happy because he’s played well this season and it’s good for the team.”

November

Per was an ever-present throughout November. The German defender scored his first goal for the Club in the 5-2 win over Tottenham and was voted man of the match for his performance in the 0-0 draw with Aston Villa. “It was amazing from the very start,” he told Arsenal Player after the Tottenham game. "It was very good to score because we were one man up and they were dropping off. I kept standing in the box and tried to be lucky. The ball from Theo was very good and it was a good day to score.”

December

Per made five appearances in December, missing only the trip to Olympiacos in the Champions League and the home win over Newcastle. On being drawn against Bayern Munich in the Champions League last 16, Per said: “We will face a good team in Germany. They are top of their league and went through to the knockout stage in a phenomenal way. They only conceded seven goals in the first half of the season. [But] they have a little break now and can rest a bit. Maybe it's a good opportunity for us to face them in February because we will be in our rhythm. We will hopefully go through the Christmas period in a strong way. We can do that.”

January

Per captained Arsenal for the first time in the FA Cup win over Brighton and Hove Albion and appeared in every game except the draw at Southampton on New Year’s Day. “We are always looking to win something and we can achieve something with this group,” he told Arsenal.com. “We have a lively group so our thoughts are now on the next match. That’s the most important thing for us, not what’s going to happen in May. “We have a few targets in our team that are possible this year. We won’t talk about it, we’ll just see what happens in the next few important weeks on the pitch.”

February

Per started four games in February, missing only the FA Cup loss to Blackburn Rovers at the Emirates. “It’s always special to face a German team,” the defender said ahead of the Champions League tie against Bayern Munich. “[Me and Lukas Podolski] are looking forward to it because Bayern are a great team and are so consistent this year. It’s a special game for German players