Per Mertesacker reveals video motivation was behind Arsenal's FA Cup final win

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has revealed that the players were motivated for last summer's FA Cup final over Chelsea thanks to video tributes to teammates.

Arsene Wenger's side managed to earn a 2-1 victory over the Blues at Wembley thanks to goals from Alexis Sanchez and Aaron Ramsey.

Mertesacker, who will retire at the end of the season, has revealed that before the showdown, the players watched pre-recorded videos of the team delivering tributes to one another.

"We said before that we want to do something like a motivational video," the defender told the Arsenal Weekly Podcast. "Two years before we had a video where all the relatives, friends, family sent us some videos for us to get emotional, get the motivation in.

"This time we thought we'd video ourselves and try to explain what the teammate is about. Everyone picked three teammates to have a little two-minute video about what he loves about the person, how he competes, what he stands for.

"That was pretty awesome I have to say. Once someone else is talking about you, about your strength, about what you give to the team, that was pretty emotional. That was a big plus before that game. Everyone was happy to sacrifice for their teammates. That was the feeling."

This season, the Gunners failed to get past the third round in the competition.