Over the course of Arsene Wenger's 18-year reign, Arsenal have become accustomed to World Cup winners.
In 1998, Patrick Vieira teed up Emmanuel Petit for the clinching goal in France's 3-0 final victory over Brazil, prompting the Daily Mirror to famously lead with "Arsenal win the World Cup" on their front page. Four years later, Wenger signed Gilberto Silva on the strength of his World Cup-winning displays for Brazil, while in 2010 Cesc Fabregas assisted Andres Iniesta's winning goal against the Netherlands.
This time around, three Arsenal players won the World Cup with Germany: Per Mertesacker, Lukas Podolski and Mesut Ozil. For Germany's qualifiers against Poland and Ireland this week, however, none will start -- for three very different reasons.
For Mertesacker, the situation is simple. He announced his international retirement after Germany's World Cup triumph, an understandable decision considering he was dropped midway through the tournament, although he was a late substitute in the final.
"It felt like the right time to retire, so another generation could step up," the Arsenal vice-captain said recently. "I think it's better for me to retire now and refresh myself during these international breaks ... [the World Cup] went absolutely perfectly and with that title in my arms, it felt even better to retire.
Not a naturally athletic player, periods of rest are crucial for Mertesacker. At the start of this campaign, the centre-back looked exhausted -- away at Everton, for example, he could barely run in the final ten minutes.
Ozil, however, has been sidelined through injury, with initial reports suggesting he'll be unavailable for the rest of the year. It might sound stupid, considering Ozil won the World Cup (and the FA Cup), but from a personal perspective, Ozil might not remember 2014 particularly fondly.
While the German started his Arsenal career in excellent form, he suffered a dip in the second half of his debut Premier League campaign, something also experienced by David Silva, Juan Mata and Santi Cazorla -- similarly inventive, sparky playmakers -- following their move to English football from La Liga. When you're accustomed to a winter break, Premier League football can be extremely demanding.
Ozil's Christmas schedule wasn't particularly busy, however. He injured his shoulder on Boxing Day at West Ham, missed two matches at the turn of the year, then played 15 minutes as a substitute in the FA Cup third round against Tottenham. Essentially, he played one complete game when others played four.
Having recorded four goals and seven Premier League assists in the first half of last season, Ozil managed just one and two respectively in the second half, partly because of a thigh injury, then a more serious hamstring injury, and then because of poor form -- which may, of course, be related to the injuries.
Ozil performed well during Germany's World Cup victory, but he wasn't one of Joachim Low's outstanding players. Had Marco Reus not missed the tournament through injury, his place might have come under threat.
Ozil isn't a physical player -- his critics often highlight his tendency to be shoved off the ball -- but he depends heavily upon a burst of acceleration, particularly with his clever sprints towards the flanks. He's comparable to Sergio Aguero: devastating when at full fitness, but somewhat tentative when working towards that level.
At Real Madrid, Ozil rarely lasted 90 minutes. It became something of a running joke: in his first season, he started 30 league games and was withdrawn 22 times. In his second season, it was 30 starts and 21 withdrawals. In his third, 23 starts and 13 times he was removed. It wasn't because Ozil was underperforming -- Jose Mourinho considered him a vital part of the Real Madrid side -- but to ensure Ozil could continue playing at full capacity.
Ozil hasn't been afforded this luxury at Arsenal -- perhaps, in part, because Arsenal don't have matches sealed as early as Mourinho's Real. Whereas Ozil completed 34 percent of Liga and Champions League matches at Real, at Arsenal it's been 65 percent. When considering the extra physicality of the Premier League, it's a big difference.
Some have suggested Ozil's injury is a blessing in disguise, but considering Arsenal's other injury worries, that's hard to justify. Arsenal will hope, however, that a rest will allow Ozil to return fresher, and closer to his best.
Therefore, the sole Arsenal player representing Germany this week is Lukas Podolski -- and he probably won't even start. Indeed, it's slightly surprising that Podolski hasn't yet retired from international football -- he, like Mertesacker, has effectively been replaced by younger, better footballers who will lead the country for the next decade.
Podolski played little football at the World Cup -- eight minutes against ten-man Portugal, and the first half of a 1-0 victory over the United States. He didn't play in the knockout stage and is presumably still involved because he's both highly experienced and a popular dressing room character -- the Pepe Reina role. Amazingly, Podolski has twice as many caps as the second-most experienced player in the current German squad, Thomas Muller. Equally amazingly, Podolski is still only 29.
The forward finds himself in a strange situation, considering he's far from a first-choice at club level, making just one start so far this season in the Capital One Cup defeat to Southampton. He appeared ready to leave Arsenal this summer, and there's increasingly a feeling that Podolski might leave next summer -- perhaps to Italy, where the gentler pace suits older players, or perhaps another return to Cologne, his boyhood club.
Podolski will be desperate to play for Germany this weekend, however -- as the game is away in Poland. Podolski was born in Gliwice, in the south of the country, while his dad played football in Poland professionally and his mum represented the country internationally at handball. Many of Podolski's family still live in Poland.
Podolski has faced Poland three times before, including at Euro 2008, where he scored two goals for Germany in a 2-0 win, inevitably refusing to celebrate the goals, and giving an emotional post-match interview to Polish television.
Realistically, Podolski's international career doesn't have much longer to run. He hasn't scored in a competitive game for Germany since Euro 2012, and it's difficult to justify selecting Podolski rather than exciting youngster Karim Bellarabi, for example.
Clearly, Podolski didn't consider a World Cup triumph at the Maracana a fitting finale to his international career, but a goal in Poland would surely be the perfect farewell.
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