Per Mertesacker has been limited to spending much of the season watching from the sidelines, after suffering a knee injury in pre-season.
While it won't have been what the 32-year-old World Cup winner envisaged for this campaign, he believes his time in the stands has given him another viewpoint on the team and their performances this term.
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"I think it’s a different perspective," Per told Arsenal Player. "Obviously, I once when I played for Hannover as a kid, I was in the standing area and I was cheering that side as well.
"I know that perspective, but when you watch television or watch in the stand, when you watch the guys it’s a different perspective.
"So you understand more what it feels like, especially when you have disappointing results... How our team reacts on the pitch afterwards, how do we stick together afterwards, how do we bounce back?
"Obviously I want to influence that more, like I can do on the pitch, but the perspective of being on the sidelines is sometimes good to put things right from a different angle. It helps you sometimes to understand even better."
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