Per Mertesacker: Arsenal must beat Manchester United and recover from 'one of the worst setbacks of this season'

 
11 February 2014

Per Mertesacker has urged Arsenal to rediscover their pride by beating Manchester United on Wednesday.

The Gunners were knocked off the top of the Premier League following a 5-1 drubbing by Liverpool on a chastening afternoon in which they were 4-0 down after just 20 minutes. That defeat raised familiar questions about the team’s mental fragility and strength in depth at the start of a tough run of four big matches in 11 days across three competitions.

Defending champions United are next up at Emirates Stadium and Mertesacker admits Arsenal must vastly improve from their performance on Merseyside on Saturday.

“To be honest, it’s one of the worst setbacks of this season,” said the centre-back. “We feel very bad at the moment, disappointed with our performance right from the start.

“It was just not good enough to compete at that level. Liverpool seemed full of confidence. At the start we were eight points clear of Liverpool so we should have been more confident and more aware of the situation but that wasn’t the case.

“We have the opportunity to respond quickly on Wednesday and we have to remind ourselves what we have done from Manchester City [when Arsenal lost 6-3] until now. That is at stake and to show that responsibility for ourselves and for the pride of our club.”

Mertesacker believes Arsenal supporters will unite behind the team in this key period, which also includes Sunday’s fifth-round FA Cup clash against Liverpool at Emirates Stadium and the home leg of the last‑16 Champions League tie against Bayern Munich three days later.

He told Arsenal Player: “We have huge games coming up but we can rely on our fans that they will push us again. I think the team will give something back in the next couple of weeks.”

Mikel Arteta said the defeat felt “like a car crash” and has also challenged his team-mates to respond.

“We have to react,” said the midfielder. “We know we need to improve and face those games in a different manner because after 18 minutes we were 4-0 down and it was like a car crash. The manager was really upset at half-time because it wasn’t good enough for this club. It was the angriest I have seen him.”

Arsenal remain confident Wednesday’s match will go ahead despite the threat of a second Tube strike following last week’s industrial action. Talks were ongoing today between trade union officials and London Underground managers to try to resolve the dispute over ticket office closures with another 48-hour strike planned from tomorrow.

An Arsenal spokesman told Standard Sport the club remain in “constant liaison with all relevant authorities”. The Victoria line and the Piccadilly line will be affected by a strike and the club said: “We are urging fans to plan their journeys and leave plenty of time.”

The Gunners were forced to postpone a match on Boxing Day 2012 due to industrial action but that decision was taken because there were also no overground services running as it was a national holiday.

Arsenal's midfield crisis

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