I see why Mesut the magician riles fans
MERTESACKER URGES ARSENAL ‘GENIUS’ OZIL TO RAISE HIS GAME
PER Mertesacker admits he can understand why Arsenal supporters grow frustrated with Mesut Ozil.
Mertesacker and Ozil were team-mates with Germany, Werder Bremen and for five seasons at Arsenal. Both won the World Cup in 2014 but Ozil has suffered a rough ride in England, with his performances coming under intense scrutiny.
The playmaker has amassed 43 goals and 74 assists in 231 games for the Gunners but has been branded lazy and accused of failing to deliver in big matches.
On whether he can sympathise with fans’ exasperation, Mertesacker said: ‘Yeah because probably they don’t understand him.
‘I know how to take him and how to try to pinch him when needed. But ultimately it has to come from him if he wants to go to the next level. But he can deliver.
‘He loves playing football, it doesn’t come across so often. He is a genius in terms of what he can produce with the ball and you can see that in every training session. He thinks he plays in the park, he can deliver that ball that no one else can deliver. He has got that magical sense.’
The pair had an angry bust-up, however, after the Gunners’ 6-3 defeat by Manchester City in 2013, with the then Arsenal captain furious with Ozil for not wanting to thank the travelling Arsenal fans. Mertesacker believes his former team-mate pays for simply having an unusual personality.
‘He’s a different character and sometimes I struggled with that. When I approached him and said “this is not what we do here”, I thought that sticks with us longer. For him it’s: “No, that’s OK, I accept that we move forward’. I was really p*****, for days and weeks. But he relaxes in those moments and he is fine with it. He delivers magic moments for us and also moments where you thought he can go to another level.’
Mertesacker now holds futures in his hands. As Arsenal’s academy manager, he tells teenagers whether they really can be ‘the one per cent’.
‘I’ll be up front,’ the 34-year-old says. ‘But it’s not easy to deliver that message and still be positive. There are a lot of role models out there and we actually deliver the message of Eddie Nketiah,’ the German continues.
‘He was released by Chelsea when he was 16 and we took him. But in the moment, it’s going to be a negative message in the eye of the kid and the parents.’
Mertesacker wants to change that. He wants hopefuls to know their future can still be bright — in football, or elsewhere.
His message? ‘Don’t waste your talent, not being only focused on football.’
For most of the German’s professional life, three points have been the only yardstick for success. Now he insists: ‘ We shouldn’t just focus on those who make it. A similar reward would be a first-team player at Arsenal or, just for the sake of argument, a doctor in America. I’m really open to that.
‘That would give me similar reward, that we have impacted a young kid’s life positively and that he would come back and say: “Yeah this has improved me, made me learn better, made me a better person”.’
It’s quite a challenge. Mertesacker wants to build on the legacy of Arsene Wenger but he is currently in charge of 180 kids engulfed by football and its culture of ‘take, take, take’. It is an ethos that spreads beyond the training ground.
‘I get the feeling that some parents really think about their son as someone who can take them and pay for their pension.’ He adds: ‘The new generation is all about: Give them, then they will take care of themselves. No, no, no. If you care about them and just think it’s about taxis, money and credits. That’s the opposite of caring.’ Reiss Nelson and Joe Willock are the latest products of a proud academy to have broken into the first team. ‘You can almost sense that there is a trust in the academy. I just want to build on that,’ says Mertesacker.
If he has his way, the next crop of youngsters will make their mark — at the Emirates and outside the ‘bubble of football’.
‘That’s a big challenge. But I’m not here to please everyone. I hope Arsenal knew what they were appointing when they appointed me.’