Our giant of a German Per Mertesacker's ankle looks as battered and bruised as my bank account after buying a hot-dog with a pint of Carlsberg at the Emirates.
It looks in seriously bad shape and I can imagine the pain Per felt when his 6ft 6in frame went over and buckled himself.
Seeing the photo made me wince.

By Chris Wright

As you may have seen at the weekend, faced with the prospect of having to chase down Sunderland whippet James McLean, Per Mertesacker's ankle gave up the ghost and tucked itself underneath the rest of the lithe German in a bid to get out of the way as the Irish winger hurtled through to score the opener.

In the real world, if you buy something, you expect it to work. And if you spend a lot of money on it, you expect it to work very well, for as long as you'll need it to (maybe even forever). So it's easy to think that paying millions of dollars for a player should yield instant results. But it's the rare occasion when this actually comes to pass.

S1-2A by fasthighlights

Sunderland has always been a tough side to crack and yesterday was no different on a horrible pitch at the Stadium of Blight. The first half was marked by the usual spectacle of Arsenal bossing the ball with little to show. Sunderland known for its strong defending did just that but their counterattacking was laboured.

Down like a sacker spuds Sunderland forward James McClean scored a cheeky opener against Arsenal after defender Per Mertesacker generously fell over. The German defender left the field on a stretcher after the incident. That prompted Soccer Saturday pundit Robbie Fowler who had taken to calling the Arsenal man "Metzelder" to say: "I [.

Fine margins

February and all we've collected from 2012 is a solitary point in the league. Unfortunately for a club the size of Arsenal and the ambitions that we harbour, that is not good enough. 7th is where we are right now in terms of the league standings and hopes of staying with the top pack and clinching that vital Champions League position is not mathematically out of grab.

If there's one footballer with Arsenal DNA, then defender Per Mertesacker certainly has to be...
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If there's one footballer with Arsenal DNA, then defender Per Mertesacker certainly has to be...
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Arsenal has suffered some terrible bad luck with defensive injuries this season. We lost Sagna, Gibbs and Jenkinson all with a 17 days in October, but the loss that has hurt us most was the loss of Santos in December. Santos was an attacking full-back and gave us extra attacking options something that has been lacking in recent weeks.

There are no excuses, yesterday we were outplayed and outfought by a newly promoted side, as Swansea beat us 3-2 to seriously dent our hopes of making the top four.

The penalty decision was questionable, yes, but as has been the problem recently, we were not up for this game at all.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.

Ok then,

after a dull weekend of FA Cup action it's our turn tonight and we face Leeds at home. Last season this game was saved late on by a Cesc penalty. It was a pretty dour performance from us on the day and hopefully there'll be no repeat of that.

The manager has already said he's going to pick a strong side and while there's certainly going to be a measure of rotation, I don't know how much he can really do at the back.

Many fans were hoping for early activity from the Gunners in the transfer market, especially to bolster the defence, but things have largely been quiet. Given that Ferguson had to go back to Paul Scholes and Chelsea are taking so long over the Cahill deal, one can assume this is going to be, at best, a tricky month for football business.

After Vito Mannone moved to Hull on loan there was some suggestion that he had made available a space for non homegrown players to arrive.

Unfortunately this isn't the case. For the 2011/12 season we named five homegrown players over the age of 21, and 17 (the maximum allowed) non homegrown players.

Losing to Fulham to start 2012 hurt but it has hopefully served as a wakeup call for Arsene Wenger that his side cannot continue to challenge for the top four without recognised fullbacks. The regulars are out injured and have been for a considerable time. Kieran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Carl Jenkinson are on the treatment table for the foreseeable future so now the January transfer window is open, Wenger must invest.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

Although Thierry Henry's recent stint at Arsenal was technically just for training, rumors continue to swirl that Arsene Wenger is considering offering the former Arsenal striker a short-term contract. Some reports stipulate that a two-month loan has already been offered to the New York Red Bulls forward.

The German defender Per Mertesacker was just one of the Arsenal players that were denied a goal by Wayne Hennessey in Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Wolves, but despite the small setback he is still certain that the Gunners will be moving back into the Champions League places very shortly. "We had a big chance to [.

This Boxing Day was a great one for Arsenal and a fun time for me. Hope you had a joyful Christmas too. Apologies for the lateness of this post but the whole weekend was just so enjoyable and engaging, I couldn't find any time before now. Well, I did find some time but then Sachin came on to bat and took up the best part of the last two hours.

This Boxing Day was a great one for Arsenal and a fun time for me. Hope you had a joyful Christmas too. Apologies for the lateness of this post but the whole weekend was just so enjoyable and engaging, I couldn't find any time before now. Well, I did find some time but then Sachin came on to bat and took up the best part of the last two hours.

Now that we're at the halfway mark, it becomes the duty of Arsenal bloggers to write about how things have gone up to this point in the season, and how things are likely headed in the future. Since opinions are probably even more diverse than ever this year, I thought it would be fun to write two completely different midseason reviews.

Our back line had been decimated by numerous injuries, strangely Miguel was another absentee which I have assumed means he must have picked up an injury against City, anyway we had a really makeshift back four with Vermaelen at left back and Coquelin at right back, and the formidable pairing of Mertesacker and Koscielny in the centre.

Manchester City 1 – 0 Arsenal: Match report and player ratings

Since our painful, last visit to Manchester a few months ago, Arsenal have made tremendous progress. In fact, the club achieved such a fantastic transformation since the late arrival of experienced, quality players like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Santos that most of us were confident we could get something out of our game against the other club from Manchester today.

Manchester City 1 – 0 Arsenal: Match report and player ratings

Since our painful, last visit to Manchester a few months ago, Arsenal have made tremendous progress. In fact, the club achieved such a fantastic transformation since the late arrival of experienced, quality players like Arteta, Mertesacker, and Santos that most of us were confident we could get something out of our game against the other club from Manchester today.

*hyperboilk*

Right, big game today and all that. Man City. I remember when they used to be just fields. The other team in Manchester who everyone kind of had a soft spot (sort of) for because they were United's poor relation. Not just the poor relation though. They were the keen, eager yet drooling relation with a club foot and a cleft palate who really wanted to join the kickabout and nobody had the heart to refuse.

The new Arsenal centre-back Per Mertesacker will be playing for Germany at the Euros, and they have been drawn in the same Group as Robin Van Persie's Holland so are set to go head to head at the tournament on June 13th. Both Holland and Germany are just behind Spain in the football betting online [.

At this stage of the season and given how well the club has done since that awful start to the season, the last news you would want to read is that we're going to be patient with the contract of Robin Van Persie. This is our captain, our inspiration and quite literally has dragged us all the way up the table.

Good day folks.

I would give you a plague update but I fear that using phrases/words like 'coughing up', 'festering' and 'redefine the colour green' aren't exactly pleasant first thing in the morning, Instead I shall crack on with what little there is terms of Arsenal news this morning.

We can start with Per Mertesacker and he's been talking about he needs time to really prove his worth.

The 26 year old Laurent Koscielny was signed by Arsenal in the summer transfer window of 2010. The centre half had a rather rocky start to his Arsenal career where he needed time to adapt to the fast paced and physical Premier League. His blunder with Szczesny in the dying minutes of the Carling Cup [.

At the end of Saturday's game, SZCZ fell to his knees and kissed Robin's boot. Whilst it's a manoeuvre many other gooners would probably replicate at the moment, a better one would have been to cover Robin's entire body in cotton wool.
We are not a one-man side. We have one of the best goalkeepers in European football.

Thomas Vermaelen will play in the left back position

All four centre backs have been deployed against Everton. Thomas Vermaelen at left back, Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny form the central pairing, and Johan Djourou at right.

For Arsenal the danger men are Tim Cahill who loves to lose himself in the thicket of tall defenders rising from nowhere for his headers, Leighton Baines who will fancy himself against a relatively static Djourou to bomb forward, and Louis Saha who still packs in an explosive finish.

It's not every day you turn 125. And let's face it, there aren't many who can claim to be such an age. Arsenal Football Club, some man in Japan who has lived off a diet of fresh fish and roadside herbs for his entire life, and Joan Rivers.

We'll return to that landmark for the club in a little while but first we'll turn attention to the game today against Everton.

If drawing 1-1 at home to Fulham and losing in the Milk Cup with an understrength team can be described as a blip, then our blip was batted away with that assured win at Wigan.

Nice too that the goals were scored not by one man, but by four. Particularly pleasing too that Gervinho netted one: I think he's had a big effect on our attacking potency, even if he's not sunk as many goals as we might have liked – though three league goals in ten starts is hardly a drought, either.

Right then, back to Premier League action today with a trip to Wigan.

It would be fair to say that our last two trips to this ground have been less than fruitful. Last season 10 man Wigan came from behind to force a draw (was it a Squillaci own goal or a Fabianski flap? Either way it wasn't pretty).

Recent trips to Wigan have been eventful but the memories aren't particularly pleasant for Gooners. Arsenal have dropped 5 points in the last two visits after conceding late goals in games that the Gunners dominated and should have won.

I hope the dominance continues but the 'Be a Gooner, be a Giver' mantra is not taken on to the field.

When Per Mertesacker arrived at Arsenal towards the end of the summer transfer window, he was thought to be the ultimate solution for Arsenal's endless defensive issues. Standing at 1.98m and possessing a great leaping ability, he can deal with the aerial threat of physical Premier League teams, which has been a constant problem in [.

Arsenal 1-1 Fulham

So Arsenal's five-match league winning run comes to a close. Churlish to moan too much, given how until recently we'd not strung two league wins together for donkey's years. And overall, our recent form in all competitions remains nigh-on impeccable.

There was something poignant about the moment, mid way through the second half, when Arsène Wenger made his first two substitutions.

Gervinho and Abou Diaby were bouncing on the touchline: primed, eager and ready while the fourth official fiddled with his number board.

Three yards away from them, on the pitch, a small Russian man was standing on his own, looking downcast and waiting for the inevitable appearance of the number 23 on the official's board.

This wasn't the kind of game that I wanted to watch at midnight after an immensely enjoyable day with friends and their families who are visiting us for the holidays. And I get no joy in typing this report at quarter past two in the night but writing can also be cathartic at times and that's just what I am hoping to achieve.

Well that was no fun. Despite outplaying Fulham, luck was not on our side today, and we dropped two important points at home. Credit goes to Schwarzer in particular for keeping them in it, while RvP's prowess around the goal finally let him down today. Vermaelen was the goat for his howler of an own goal, but he gained a measure of redemption with a header to level things late.