Tony Cascarino has hailed the performance of Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker during the FA Cup Final win over Chelsea on Saturday.
Mertesacker was handed only his second appearance of the entire 2016-17 season for the FA Cup Final tie, after Arsene Wenger saw his defensive options heavily depleted.
The ever-present Laurent Koscielny was suspended, while centre-back duo Gabriel Paulista and Shkodran Mustafi were both injured, leaving the 32-year-old with a key role.
Arsenal defensive crisis saw their chances of victory swiftly dismissed prior to Saturday’s match, but Mertesacker hit back at the critics with an assured display to help his side to a 2-1 victory.
Ex-Chelsea striker Cascarino admits he was blown away by Mertesacker’s ‘astonishing’ display, and that the German was worthy of being named Arsenal’s player of the year.
In his column for the Times, he wrote: “Per Mertesacker should be Arsenal’s player of the year after his performance against Chelsea. He had Diego Costa in his pocket for much of the game.
“Considering he had not played a full game all season it was an astonishing performance – he came in and was so at ease. He was majestic in the air and did the simple things so well.
“If everyone had been fit for Arsenal he probably wouldn’t have even made the bench, it was an amazing scenario for him to be playing in an end-of-season cup final.”
The experienced centre-back was named as club captain at the start of the season, despite his injury status, but then struggled to regain his place in the starting eleven upon his return to full fitness.
He had fallen down the pecking order behind summer signing Mustafi, while youngster Rob Holding – another summer addition – has also jumped ahead in recent weeks.
His future at the club had looked unclear with just one year remaining on his current deal at The Emirates, but after his display against Chelsea, it appears that there could be a role for him at least for one more year.