"We lost 8-2 against United and with Wenger, nothing ever happened"

The German defender Per Mertesacker, who spent eight seasons at Arsenal, has taken advantage of the realease of his biography 'BFG: Big Friendly German' to reveal surprising details about Arsenal, in which stood out the normality of Arsenal after their 8-2 loss at Old Trafford in 2011.

"There was not a feeling of crisis. There was a relaxed atmosphere. It was the same in training. We ran a little, did some exercises  and then prepared for our next game", the German explained in the book.

Mertesacker adds that at Arsenal they lived outside of everything that the fans thought. An inexplicable thing that prevented players from living the reality of the club.

"There were no normal interactions between players and fans. This meant that we never faced a different perspective than that of the clubs," insists the player.

"The fans never explained to you what the club meant to them and we rarely talked to journalists," Mertesacker continues.

The central recognises that they were "in a bubble" and emphasises that the 'Gunner' team was a different club. "In Arsenal everything was different. They didn't want everything focused on a player and they preferred to send less interesting people to talk to the media."

Per Mertesacker arrived at Arsenal in 2011 and spent seven consecutive seasons under Wenger, until they both stepped aside in 2018.