Former Gunners star Per Mertesacker has admitted his relief that he wasn’t called upon regularly during his final campaign as an Arsenal player.
Speaking to the BBC Sport, as cited in a report from the Evening Standard, the German reflected on his time at the Emirates and conceded that he was in a poor condition throughout the 2017/18 season.
Especially in my last year, I felt something and felt the pressure and it was very awkward sometimes. I was happy about not necessarily playing, just training was enough for me.
Being in a career and going from highlight to highlight and playing a lot of matches you go through it and think it’s normal when you play in front of 60,000 and you almost want to vomit in front of every game.
Mertesacker now plays an involved role in the running of Arsenal’s youth teams following his decision to call time on his playing days at the end of last term.
The 33-year-old enjoyed a generally strong tenure at the Emirates but revealed that, towards the end of his spell as an Arsenal player, his desire to play football on a regular basis waned.
It’s not right playing these games to have that fear about what’s going on with me. The fact that I actually felt better after saying ‘I’m going to stop’, I had less pain. Sometimes you don’t feel like doing sports or don’t feel like doing workouts [where you are] spending eight weeks together and you just don’t see your family.
Mertesacker established himself as an integral part of Arsene Wenger’s side during his seven-year spell in North London, making in excess of 200 competitive appearances for the club.
So it has taken some bits and pieces as well – my health at one or two stages where you give absolutely everything and your body is just exhausted and you try to continue but your body says ‘I’m done. I need an injury I need a break.’ That’s what I’ve experienced.
