The German duo are good pals, and the row is just part of being in a football team, claims Mertesacker…
Arsenal’s towering German centre-back Per Mertesacker has explained his on pitch row with Mesut Ozil in an interview with German newspaper Bild.
Mertesacker hounded Ozil on the pitch after the 90 minutes following Arsenal’s 6-3 drubbing at the hands of Manchester City a few weeks ago, because his teammate tried to leave the pitch without thanking the travelling fans.
The interview is in German, so thankfully the Guardian’s Marcus Christensen has tweeted a translation of the best bits…
Mertesacker on row with Özil at Etihad: ‘It can’t just be all happiness, peace and pancakes. If it is then you won’t develop as a team’ #afc
— Marcus Christenson (@m_christenson) December 28, 2013
Mertesacker: ‘The good thing is that Mesut and I know each other well from our time at Bremen. We can be honest with each other.’ #afc
— Marcus Christenson (@m_christenson) December 28, 2013
Mertesacker then has played down the spat, and reassured any Arsenal fans worrying the row would have a lasting effect on squad moral.
(The phrase ‘happiness, peace and pancakes’ is a German idiom for ‘It’s all good’!)
The Gunners take on Newcastle at St. James’ park on Sunday afternoon, knowing a win will see them climb to the top of the table.
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