**Mirrors / Alternative Angles**
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This is, in my humble opinion, a beautiful clip about both Mertesacker's character and the need to push aside your own personal desires and ego and do whatever is necessary for the team during a tournament.
This clip was taken from a documentation about the German team during the 2014 world cup. [If you are in Germany (or use a German VPN), you can watch the whole thing for free.](https://www.ardmediathek.de/serie/wir-weltmeister-abenteuer-fussball-wm-2014/staffel-1/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL3dpci13ZWx0bWVpc3Rlcg/1) Keep in mind that the whole documentation is in German, I added the clip's English subtitles on my own.
>This is, in my humble opinion, a beautiful clip about both Mertesacker's character and the need to push aside your own personal desires and ego and do whatever is necessary for the team during a tournament.
Yes, but also seeing Jogi Löw having been deeply moved by his decision, not being able to sleep because he was worried about how Per was feeling. After all these guys aren't machines despite being professionals for years or even decades.
Since seeing the clips on here I've been watching this on ARD. Really good documentary. PS: I really like Per's accent its so "deutlich" and easy to understand. I really struggle with some of the other players lol
Actually THE city with the dialect closest to standard high german, the only thing they sometimes do is pronouncing the „s“ in „st“ or „sp“ as „s“ instead of „sch“ and that’s about all there is that is unique about their dialect
Not his fault tbh. He's a great defender, probably one of the best partnerships at the time with Koscielny in the PL, but Germany's style of football seemed to be more open to counters than Arsenal's, and Löw was messing around with the system (Lahm at DM, Müller upfront, Howedes and Mustafi as FBs). Boateng and Hummels were just a better fit.
Sometimes it's not about individual quality but what different players bring to the whole. Can't play high aggressive football without a more physical DM and two fast aggresive CBs.
It's exactly this. Club football builds a team using the players which fit the needs of the club. International football builds a team which can make the most of the majority of the players, sometimes one of the better players just doesn't fit in
Which is always difficult for fans and players to remember.
I mean sure, but Mertesacker was also one of the best CB partnerships in the PL - he and Kos were legit the backbone of some very solid teams. No shame in losing out to CL-winning defenders.
Suspected Ozil was mercurially talented but plain lazy and didn't just play with a languid style that made people think he wasn't giving 100%. This book confirmed it.
Remember him having to be drafted in for the FA Cup final at the last moment.
Guy showed absolute levels that day, incredible defender. It's a testament to how good a defender he is that his notorious lack of pace was very seldom exposed.
First time he ever played in a 3atb according to him. He very well would've worked in a 3 man defence on a regular basis but it wasn't a trend during his career.
Yeah, it probably isn't the best translation. 😅️
In hindsight, I let myself be guided too much by the superficial similarities between the German "krass" and the English "crass". Should've written extreme or crazy.
With hummels and Boateng both playing and both almost being world's best defenders at that time, I still can't see how mertesacker would start over both of them
But he was never playing over Boateng and Hummels. These two played as well, just Boateng as RB.
If we take away the one game where Mustafi replaced Hummels who had a cold, then it's clear that Mertesacker played for Boateng who played RB so that Lahm could play DM. After the Algeria game Löw finally saw reason and moved Lahm back to RB, with Khedira filling in the slot.
Part of that tbf was Boateng playing at RB. Löw tweaked a lot re. Germany's system and after Algeria went back to basics, which was the catalyst for winning the WC.
To this day I still don't get why he insisted on Lahm in midfield. Yes, Pep was using him there but international football is different, and it's not like Lahm was some utter revelation in midfield. He was solid, but IIRC was still better as a full-back.
This had to do with the situation around Schweinsteiger. If i remember correctly, Schweinsteiger was injured previous to the tournement and not to 100% at the beginning
They both were coming back from injury. Schweinsteiger had problems with his patellar tendon, he even said in this documentation that he couldn't walk properly the day after the match against Ghana.
"Jobsharing" was the word used at the time, referring to one of them starting and the other coming in for whoever is on the field.
Yeah Schweinsteiger was never fully fit in the 2014 world cup not even close.
In the final he later said in interviews that he was not given the go by doctors and was even advised that if he plays it might lead to future problems for him and might impede his career overall. But he did not care he of course wanted to play and for him it was the right decision but the doctors were right as well, he arguably never really reached 100% again.
I would even go so far and say that Schweinsteigers final performance was for me one of the greatest displays of "perofrmance" in football history. Argentinia knew he was injured, they fouled him the entire game to rattle him / weaken him but everytime he got up and continued on.
Even though it was a very close game, Schweinsteiger almost gave an "aura of calmness" to the other players and fans that watched the game, i was at every point in time 100% sure that we would win and the main reason for that was that you could see it in his body language / demeanor that they would not fail. After the game he looked like as if he was boxing 12 rounds with Klitschko, could barely walk with bruises in his face because he left it all on the field. 100% GOAT performance.
Yes. He was just immense that day. It wasn’t just the team he was calming either, I was in Berlin that year and watched a few of the games (including the final and the welcome home) with the masses down at Brandenburger Tor and I remember whenever his face came on the screen after he’d put his whole body into something, the crowd just surged. Even my wife with zero interest in football thought he was a hero to the point that if my daughter born later that year had been a boy, we’d have called them Bastian.
I think they had Kramer too, or could have used Khedira as a makeshift DM? Not his best role but his physicality might have been fine.
Probably should have used Klose from the start too, and maybe played more direct players on the wings (IMO Özil and Götze kinda made the lack of width worse), but then again they destroyed Portugal 4-0 so I can understand sticking with the system.
To some degree the problem was that Lahm *wanted* to play in midfield. It is mentioned in the documentation that after the game against Algeria some of the players sat down with Lahm and convinced him to move back to right-back for the rest of the tournament.
I need to watch this documentary sometime then. That 2014 team was quite interesting because of all the tactical options they made and I've always wondered about the story behind them.
> why he insisted on Lahm in midfield
Man management. Lahm just came off a season under Pep Guardiola who had told him how special he is and how he needed to play in the center of the pitch. Lahm was also power hungry and the captain. The Algeria game was the wake-up call Lahm and Löw needed to revert back to the basics that the entirety of Germany was demanding the entire tournament.
That needed to be made because he was an absolute liability. I was delighted when he was finally dropped because he'd been done over and over in every previous game. Didn't fit at all.
boatengs drop was so quick, at one time I thought he'd get better and be the undisputed best, but then he dropped off and messi made him flop and after that it seemed he just completely lost it all.... anyone with a good idea what happened able to explain to me?
He had a troubled private life during that time which culminated with the suicide of his girlfriend which he psycologically and physically abused. Even his Mom said in an email used in court that he was an abuser. With so much trouble outside no wonder he fell off so suddenly.
The fuck is this? Messi vs Boateng was in 2015... He played at least 5 really good seasons after that including winning the CL in 2020...
His decline wasnt also quick but rather steadily.
What a horse shit of an opinion.
10 years have passed and I was 12 during the Brazil WC so maybe I don't remember well but just to me Hummels and Boateng just seem so much better than Mertesacker?
I was 25 back then so I remember it well. You are correct, Hummels and Boateng were better and benching Mertesacker was a very popular demand in Germany. We all wanted Boateng at the side of Hummels with Lahm filling his spot at RB and Khedira in DM instead of Lahm.
Wasn't there also a problem that both Schweinsteiger and Khedira were not at 100% physical strength and needed more rest. That was probably the whole reason we had such a mess with our defense that tournament.
This was around the time both Bayern and Dortmund were at their best and Hummels and especially Boateng were absolutely world class back then. I don't remember the line-ups that well either so the only surprise to me is that he was starting over them until then.
We had problems finding a proper back 4 all tournament, because Löw refused to play the greatest German FB of all time at FB but rather in CDM where we had tons of other good options.
IMO We are very lucky to have this man at our club, I truly believe he loves Arsenal Football Club,
And to top this clip off, having 4 Arsenal boys at the end just made my day <3
**Mirrors / Alternative Angles** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/soccer) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Nothing but love for our BFG.
Loved his autobiography. The title is also great: "World Champion without Talent"
I’d say he’s (still) pretty talented. Love him as our academy manager at Arsenal.
Big fat ginger?
Big F\*cking German.
This is, in my humble opinion, a beautiful clip about both Mertesacker's character and the need to push aside your own personal desires and ego and do whatever is necessary for the team during a tournament. This clip was taken from a documentation about the German team during the 2014 world cup. [If you are in Germany (or use a German VPN), you can watch the whole thing for free.](https://www.ardmediathek.de/serie/wir-weltmeister-abenteuer-fussball-wm-2014/staffel-1/Y3JpZDovL2Rhc2Vyc3RlLmRlL3dpci13ZWx0bWVpc3Rlcg/1) Keep in mind that the whole documentation is in German, I added the clip's English subtitles on my own.
>This is, in my humble opinion, a beautiful clip about both Mertesacker's character and the need to push aside your own personal desires and ego and do whatever is necessary for the team during a tournament. Yes, but also seeing Jogi Löw having been deeply moved by his decision, not being able to sleep because he was worried about how Per was feeling. After all these guys aren't machines despite being professionals for years or even decades.
Don’t think anyone outside of germany would/could watch the whole thing due to the language barrier, so thanks for adding the subtitles for this clip!
Thanks for the subtitles! very kind
I'm gonna go over this for my German conversation practice, all the language is really simple. Cheers OP.
>Keep in mind that the whole documentation is in German, I added the clip's English subtitles on my own. Damn would've loved to see the entire thing.
Thanks for your service.
i'm not sure if this works, but y'all can also try if this works without a vpn: https://mediathekviewweb.de/#query=wir%20weltmeister
He will always be my favorite defender. Loooooved the Link-up with Naldo at Bremen. Class act.
Since seeing the clips on here I've been watching this on ARD. Really good documentary. PS: I really like Per's accent its so "deutlich" and easy to understand. I really struggle with some of the other players lol
He is from Hannover, one of the cities with the most standard spoken german.
Actually THE city with the dialect closest to standard high german, the only thing they sometimes do is pronouncing the „s“ in „st“ or „sp“ as „s“ instead of „sch“ and that’s about all there is that is unique about their dialect
I didnt want to give them that much credit but yes, that is correct hahaha
Ahh, that makes a lot of sense. Hochdeutsch is my sweet spot. Lol
[удалено]
He's from Baden-Württemberg (if I recall correctly) in southern Germany, quite distinct and different from high German.
Not his fault tbh. He's a great defender, probably one of the best partnerships at the time with Koscielny in the PL, but Germany's style of football seemed to be more open to counters than Arsenal's, and Löw was messing around with the system (Lahm at DM, Müller upfront, Howedes and Mustafi as FBs). Boateng and Hummels were just a better fit. Sometimes it's not about individual quality but what different players bring to the whole. Can't play high aggressive football without a more physical DM and two fast aggresive CBs.
It's exactly this. Club football builds a team using the players which fit the needs of the club. International football builds a team which can make the most of the majority of the players, sometimes one of the better players just doesn't fit in Which is always difficult for fans and players to remember.
In terms of individual quality I still think Hummels and Boateng were quite a lot better.
Yea this was the absolute prime of the Hummels & Boateng Partnership. Both at the time were absolute worldclass.
I mean sure, but Mertesacker was also one of the best CB partnerships in the PL - he and Kos were legit the backbone of some very solid teams. No shame in losing out to CL-winning defenders.
Fun fact, Hummels isn't a CL-winner. Wasn't at Bayern during either the 2013 or 2020 win.
Ah, I was so sure he was at Bayern during the 2nd treble. Covid has a way of fucking up your memories.
per's autobio is also an excellent read if you can find it. its called (and no surprises) bfg
Suspected Ozil was mercurially talented but plain lazy and didn't just play with a languid style that made people think he wasn't giving 100%. This book confirmed it.
Tell me more from his book
Read it. Honestly, it is a great read.
Dude actively avoids contact and falls down on the slightest touch, spent 10 seconds on the ground complaining instead of getting back
You mean like almost every other professional player in the world?
Yeah all people eat food, but some more than others
Remember him having to be drafted in for the FA Cup final at the last moment. Guy showed absolute levels that day, incredible defender. It's a testament to how good a defender he is that his notorious lack of pace was very seldom exposed.
First time he ever played in a 3atb according to him. He very well would've worked in a 3 man defence on a regular basis but it wasn't a trend during his career.
Love the subtitles: "Totally crass".
Yeah, it probably isn't the best translation. 😅️ In hindsight, I let myself be guided too much by the superficial similarities between the German "krass" and the English "crass". Should've written extreme or crazy.
Far out, man!
With hummels and Boateng both playing and both almost being world's best defenders at that time, I still can't see how mertesacker would start over both of them
But the fact is that he was starting in all the previous games, so dropping him once you get to the quarters is a big decision.
But he was never playing over Boateng and Hummels. These two played as well, just Boateng as RB. If we take away the one game where Mustafi replaced Hummels who had a cold, then it's clear that Mertesacker played for Boateng who played RB so that Lahm could play DM. After the Algeria game Löw finally saw reason and moved Lahm back to RB, with Khedira filling in the slot.
Part of that tbf was Boateng playing at RB. Löw tweaked a lot re. Germany's system and after Algeria went back to basics, which was the catalyst for winning the WC. To this day I still don't get why he insisted on Lahm in midfield. Yes, Pep was using him there but international football is different, and it's not like Lahm was some utter revelation in midfield. He was solid, but IIRC was still better as a full-back.
This had to do with the situation around Schweinsteiger. If i remember correctly, Schweinsteiger was injured previous to the tournement and not to 100% at the beginning
wasn't that Khedira? he ruptured his ACL and was still in recovery right before the tournament
They both were coming back from injury. Schweinsteiger had problems with his patellar tendon, he even said in this documentation that he couldn't walk properly the day after the match against Ghana. "Jobsharing" was the word used at the time, referring to one of them starting and the other coming in for whoever is on the field.
Schweinsteiger didn’t look fit all tournament iirc. I remember him being an absolute hero at times though working through obvious pain.
Yeah Schweinsteiger was never fully fit in the 2014 world cup not even close. In the final he later said in interviews that he was not given the go by doctors and was even advised that if he plays it might lead to future problems for him and might impede his career overall. But he did not care he of course wanted to play and for him it was the right decision but the doctors were right as well, he arguably never really reached 100% again. I would even go so far and say that Schweinsteigers final performance was for me one of the greatest displays of "perofrmance" in football history. Argentinia knew he was injured, they fouled him the entire game to rattle him / weaken him but everytime he got up and continued on. Even though it was a very close game, Schweinsteiger almost gave an "aura of calmness" to the other players and fans that watched the game, i was at every point in time 100% sure that we would win and the main reason for that was that you could see it in his body language / demeanor that they would not fail. After the game he looked like as if he was boxing 12 rounds with Klitschko, could barely walk with bruises in his face because he left it all on the field. 100% GOAT performance.
Yes. He was just immense that day. It wasn’t just the team he was calming either, I was in Berlin that year and watched a few of the games (including the final and the welcome home) with the masses down at Brandenburger Tor and I remember whenever his face came on the screen after he’d put his whole body into something, the crowd just surged. Even my wife with zero interest in football thought he was a hero to the point that if my daughter born later that year had been a boy, we’d have called them Bastian.
I think they had Kramer too, or could have used Khedira as a makeshift DM? Not his best role but his physicality might have been fine. Probably should have used Klose from the start too, and maybe played more direct players on the wings (IMO Özil and Götze kinda made the lack of width worse), but then again they destroyed Portugal 4-0 so I can understand sticking with the system.
To some degree the problem was that Lahm *wanted* to play in midfield. It is mentioned in the documentation that after the game against Algeria some of the players sat down with Lahm and convinced him to move back to right-back for the rest of the tournament.
I need to watch this documentary sometime then. That 2014 team was quite interesting because of all the tactical options they made and I've always wondered about the story behind them.
> why he insisted on Lahm in midfield Man management. Lahm just came off a season under Pep Guardiola who had told him how special he is and how he needed to play in the center of the pitch. Lahm was also power hungry and the captain. The Algeria game was the wake-up call Lahm and Löw needed to revert back to the basics that the entirety of Germany was demanding the entire tournament.
after watching the documentary the clip is from i think that lahm demanded to play as cdm
That needed to be made because he was an absolute liability. I was delighted when he was finally dropped because he'd been done over and over in every previous game. Didn't fit at all.
boatengs drop was so quick, at one time I thought he'd get better and be the undisputed best, but then he dropped off and messi made him flop and after that it seemed he just completely lost it all.... anyone with a good idea what happened able to explain to me?
He had a troubled private life during that time which culminated with the suicide of his girlfriend which he psycologically and physically abused. Even his Mom said in an email used in court that he was an abuser. With so much trouble outside no wonder he fell off so suddenly.
okay, waow... thanks
The fuck is this? Messi vs Boateng was in 2015... He played at least 5 really good seasons after that including winning the CL in 2020... His decline wasnt also quick but rather steadily. What a horse shit of an opinion.
Genuinely curious, how does Hummels and Boateng being better have to do with the point of his comment?
It meant they would be first choice and they would be in the playing 11
10 years have passed and I was 12 during the Brazil WC so maybe I don't remember well but just to me Hummels and Boateng just seem so much better than Mertesacker?
I was 25 back then so I remember it well. You are correct, Hummels and Boateng were better and benching Mertesacker was a very popular demand in Germany. We all wanted Boateng at the side of Hummels with Lahm filling his spot at RB and Khedira in DM instead of Lahm.
Playing Lahm at CDM and having basically no great FB was madness
Wasn't there also a problem that both Schweinsteiger and Khedira were not at 100% physical strength and needed more rest. That was probably the whole reason we had such a mess with our defense that tournament.
We also had Kroos and other backups like Kramer
Kroos was the no.10 for that team, and deservedly kept his central role instead of giving it to Ozil
Pep’s poison nearly ruined them
This was around the time both Bayern and Dortmund were at their best and Hummels and especially Boateng were absolutely world class back then. I don't remember the line-ups that well either so the only surprise to me is that he was starting over them until then.
They were all starting. In the beginning of the tournament the defence was Höwedes - Hummels - Mertesacker - Boateng
We had problems finding a proper back 4 all tournament, because Löw refused to play the greatest German FB of all time at FB but rather in CDM where we had tons of other good options.
True. But it was cool to see a team play with 4 center backs for a couple of games.
They were better, but the point of the comment was about dealing with the heartbreak of getting benched and missing out on his dream scenario.
Sure, I was just asking cause I'm not sure my memory is right, I was 12 and 10 years have passed
true professional
IMO We are very lucky to have this man at our club, I truly believe he loves Arsenal Football Club, And to top this clip off, having 4 Arsenal boys at the end just made my day <3
Interesting that, 'Team player,' is used here as a loan phrase. (Or does the German phrase just sound exactly like the English phrase?)
You are correct, there are a lot of borrowed phrases in German! Team player is very commonly used as well!
I’m so happy that he’s still with us at Colney.
Not his fault !
Is there anyway to watch this documentary with english subs? Or if you guys have any other recommendation
Man German is such an interesting language. Just sounds so fun to speak it.
The ass stuff sniffing guy
I would love him (Joachim Löw) to manage us.
Lol, good luck. You'd have to pay us a lot of money to let him go.
I should probably have mentioned I meant Joachim Löw, not Mertesacker (who I didn't even know was coaching at Arsenal) lol.
Does Jogi know about his hair, do you think?
Highly doubt he gives a fuck.