Arsene Wenger Must Address Growing Concern over Per Mertesacker's Loss of Form

Per Mertesacker’s last two Premier League away games have not been pretty. After enduring a personal nightmare against Stoke City, he followed up with a similarly concerning display at Anfield.

Liverpool are always likely to be a tricky opponent for Mertesacker. He does not enjoy small, quick players running directly at him. With that in mind, facing the likes of Philippe Coutinho and Raheem Sterling is hardly ideal.

To compensate for his lack of speed, Mertesacker and the back four dropped deep. It’s a sensible move, but unfortunately, the midfield did not follow suit, creating a huge void where Liverpool’s playmakers were able to wander untracked.

After the match, Mertesacker admitted to Max Jones of Arsenal.com that their determination to stop Sterling seemed to impede the Gunners’ own game, saying: "We tried to stop Raheem Sterling going through on the back four with his speed. We didn’t find our own game."

Mertesacker’s difficult day was compounded when he appeared to turn his back on Martin Skrtel’s headed equaliser. He would not have reached the ball regardless, but it’s not a good sign when your supposedly dominating centre-back seems to be cowering from the ball.

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This is a World Cup winner with more than 100 caps to his name. He is still only 30, which should be peak age for a centre-half. He has not become a bad player overnight. He’s simply going through a period of poor form.

There are explanations for that. After a draining 2013/14 and an extended World Cup campaign, Mertesacker was thrust into competitive action for Arsenal with barely a fortnight of pre-season under his belt.

Since then, he has been afforded very little rest. Arsenal’s lack of depth in defence means he has been forced to play almost every game. Mertesacker has already racked up 23 starts, which means only the irrepressible Alexis Sanchez has played more football for Arsenal this season. Even though Mertesacker has retired from international duty, the demands remain enormous.

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He’s also suffering from the absence of his regular partner. Laurent Koscielny is the yin to Mertesacker’s yang, covering for his faults and complementing him perfectly. No other defender at Arsenal is able to jell quite so effectively with the big German. His partnership with Calum Chambers has proved so disastrous that manager Arsene Wenger has now taken to fielding full-back Mathieu Debuchy alongside Mertesacker instead. 

Mertesacker desperately needs a spell out of the team to recover fitness and form; however, Arsenal cannot afford to give him one. He is their only fit senior centre-half. 

With the January transfer window just around the corner, Wenger urgently needs to remedy that situation. He needs at least one experienced centre-back—possibly two. It’s not just about providing cover for Mertesacker—Arsenal need competition, too.

Mertesacker’s performances in 2013/14 suggest that he can be a key player for Arsenal; however, fielding him alongside a random selection of partners without any rest is definitely damaging his performances. Wenger needs to bring in the support Mertesacker needs to arrest his slide.

James McNicholas is Bleacher Report's lead Arsenal correspondent and is following the club from a London base throughout the 2014-15 season. Follow him on Twitter here.