Per Mertesacker is definitely that guy who has to suppress fits of giggles during funerals.
There exists a strange breed of people unable to deal with sombre moments so are driven immediately to laughter.
And Mertesacker absolutely falls into that category.
The Arsenal defender was sat alongside under-fire manager Arsene Wenger at a press conference on Monday and the pair were always going to face a grilling from the gathered press after their 3-1 capitulation defeat to Liverpool at the weekend.
And given that the Gunners are looking at a near impossible task in trying to overturn a 5-1 first leg scoreline when they host Bayern Munich on Tuesday night, they should have left their laughter in the dressing room.
Alexis Sanchez’s future, Mesut Ozil’s future and even Wenger’s future all remain in doubt so giggles were expected to be few and far between at the presser.
But Mertesacker clearly doesn’t know how to cope with serious situations.
Can't stop laughing at how wrong Mertesacker gets this… pic.twitter.com/MZF0eJdlaN
— Si Lloyd (@SmnLlyd5) March 6, 2017
The German centre-half was facing a question from one reporter who wanted to know if Wenger had the backing of the players.
“From the players’ perspective, is everyone behind him and do they want him to be the manager of this football club next season?”
It was a solid question, with no room for humorous misinterpretation but, just as Wenger interjected, Mertesacker absolutely lost his shit.
The defender completely misread the situation and indulged in one of the worst-timed laughs of all time.
Wenger didn’t join in with the chuckles, nor did the journalists, and Mertesacker went right back to pretending like he hadn’t just laughed in the face of his boss.
