Mertesacker certain Cech will boost Arsenal defence

Cech, who left Chelsea after losing his place in the first team to Thibaut Courtois, is Arsenal's only senior signing of the summer so far and made his debut in the club's 2-0 opening day loss in the Premier League to West Ham United.

Mertesacker certain Cech will boost Arsenal defence

(Reuters)





Cech was heavily criticised for being at fault for both goals during the defeat.

"Petr is very experienced. You can feel that, he has lots of things to say and in the dressing room he gives us a great lift," Mertesacker, who made over 100 appearances for Germany, told the club's website (www.arsenal.com).

"Even when we lose a game, he has some great ideas on and off the pitch. He is experienced enough to think about what went wrong, you don't have to tell him."

Mertesacker felt Cech was back to his best when the Gunners beat Crystal Palace 2-1 in a hard-fought away match on Sunday.

"My feeling is he comes back even stronger, so there is no doubt he will be a great addition for us. Even when you are experienced, sometimes mistakes happen," the 30-year-old said.

The former Werder Bremen defender said he was already communicating well with Cech on the field.

"The interaction between the goalkeeper and the back four has to be top to compete in the Premier League," the German World cup winner said.

"Petr came and had that understanding from the start, we both communicate well and understand each other as someone who has to talk and is really responsible.

"We match our ambitions on the pitch and so it is great to communicate with him."

Arsenal host Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday and Mertesacker is aware of the threat the Merseyside club pose after investing heavily on the squad.

He, however, disagrees that it is a must-win game.

"That (a must-win game) is not the pressure we put on ourselves, but obviously it is a very important game," Mertesacker said.

"Liverpool is an opponent which has invested a lot of money and will be great competition to play against, especially at home.

"We want to give something back to our crowd after the (bad) start."





(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world