Mertesacker: 'We are more prepared but you are never perfectly prepared'

Published: 16 April, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

PER Mertesacker admits Arsenal are not “perfectly prepared” for this Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Reading at Wembley, but says he is confident that the holders will still reach their second successive final. 

Having won 16 of their past 18 matches the Gunners go into the final four showdown against Championship side Reading as overwhelming favourites. It’s a pressure that Arsene Wenger’s side knows only too well having faced Wigan at the same stage of the competition last year – where they survived a dramatic penalty shoot-out to reach the final. 

Mertesacker is adamant Arsenal learned valuable lessons from that game, adding that “the energy in the team” will see them through again. “We felt pressure last season a lot,” he told Arsenal Player. “No one expected us to lose, for Wigan to go through, and that will be the case again against Reading. 

“We are more prepared but you are never perfectly prepared. There will be different situations and the team will have to grow in the match again. We will have to face the expectations and pressure. But with our level of confidence and with the team in good shape at the moment, I’m very confident. The energy is really great in the team, we have a fantastic squad.” 

Mertesacker was involved at both ends of the pitch in last season’s semi-final, first conceding a penalty before scoring a late equaliser. “That was really strange for me,” recalled the Arsenal vice-captain. “To foul a player and give the penalty against us, I then had to put something right at the other end. 

“We created chance after chance and it looked like we could have played 1,000 minutes without scoring, so I had to put something right. I put something in my head of, ‘now it is your turn’ and I kept going like that. Finally it happened, we went through to penalties, and Lukasz Fabianski had a great day and saved two. 

“It was good at the end, and really exciting for a lot of fans – they were absolutely buzzing.”