Eidur Gudjohnsen thinks the quality of Per Mertesacker was underestimated after he put in a solid display in the FA Cup final, with Arsenal beating Chelsea 2-1.
With Arsenal heading into the game with a defensive injury crisis, meaning they had to make do without Laurent Koscielny, Gabriel Paulista and Shkodran Mustafi, some Chelsea fans were licking their lips at the prospect of Diego Costa and Eden Hazard taking on Mertesacker.
But the German more than stood up to the test and dealt with whatever came his way as Arsenal dominated and won the FA Cup.
For Gudjohnsen, Mertesacker had been underestimated, with the German a quality player who has seen and done it at the highest level.
"We speak about Mertesacker before the game. We forget that he is a world champion, he has won the World Cup", Gudjohnsen said on Chelsea TV.
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"Fair play to him today. His positioning was excellent.
"The Arsenal defence did really well.
"Those back three haven't played any games together", the former Chelsea forward added.
Mertesacker had played just 37 minutes of first team football for Arsenal this season before being thrown into the FA Cup final by Gunners boss Arsene Wenger.
The 32-year-old will hope to have done enough to have shown Wenger he is still a valuable part of the Arsenal squad heading into what could be a big summer of change at the Emirates Stadium.
