PRACTICE MAKES FECT FOR CALUM
EURO U-21 CHAMPIONSHIP ‘Mertesacker is my mentor’
ENGLAND’S Calum Chambers was mentored by a German – and hopes to beat them at their own game tomorrow.
The Arsenal defender claims Gunners team-mate and World Cup winner Per Mertesacker made him the player he is today.
And Chambers plans to show just what he has learned from his experienced club captain when the Young Lions face Mertesacker’s countrymen for a place in the Euro Under-21 Championship 2017 final in Poland.
Chambers said: “The one player who has helped me a lot would be Per Mertesacker.
“Being in the same position, he was almost like my mentor for a couple of years.
“I have never seen a player so professional, dedicated. For him mentally every little thing he could do he did.
Target
“That’s rubbed off on me. There were times when he would be looking at me and saying, ‘You could do this’ and that’s rubbed off. “That’s helped me realise the little things you do, the tiny little one or two per cents, get you where you want to be.” Mertesacker took Chambers under his wing when the 22-year-old first signed for Arsenal in a £16m deal from Southampton in July 2014. But it hasn’t been all plain sailing and Chambers spent last season getting relegated on loan at Middlesbrough. He is a target for Newcastle and Saints and was a surprise choice as a starter for this tournament, keeping much fancied Arsenal team-mate Rob Holding out of the line-up. But he insists he learned plenty from his time at Boro and is hoping to impress Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger at this tournament before ® from PAUL BROWN in Krakow he returns to the Emirates. Chambers said: “If I have a good tournament, it’s great and I’ll be going back to Arsenal pre-season and doing the best I can and seeing what happens.
“I gave absolutely everything in every game to try to get results and keep Boro in the Premier League. Unfortunately I couldn’t do that and I was gutted.
“But I am a massively better player for it. Last season has been so important for me, playing games as a centre-back.
“The experience I have gained in that position just from playing is so valuable to me, I feel it’s just pushed me on another level. We were defensively strong. We had to defend a lot and positionally that’s helped me a lot. But right now my focus is on England.”
Chambers will be coming up against another former Arsenal team-mate tomorrow in Serge Gnabry, who left for Werder Bremen last August and has just signed for Bayern Munich.
He said: “I trained with him for a few years at Arsenal. He’s a good player, a quality player, strong, quick, skilful, so we will focus on that and how to deal with that.
“He’s done well. He’s always been very professional and when he wasn’t getting as much game-time at Arsenal, he was doing a lot off the pitch to keep himself going. He’s a good guy, I know him well. I’m pleased for him. No surprises.”