Per Mertesacker believes the Arsenal squad established a strong team spirit during their pre-season tour of Asia and he is willing his team-mates to carry that mentality into the new Premier League season.
The defender missed the majority of last year’s pre-season campaign after representing Germany at the European Championships, but has been a regular fixture during this summer’s off-season.
"I think we have a good team spirit and we've built it up, especially in Asia, where we were together for more than two weeks,” he told the club’s official website.
“If we stick together more in the first month, especially in the Champions League qualifier and the first games of the Premier League, we can continue our good run that we had [at the end] of last season."
The Gunners face a Champions League play-off against Fenerbahce while the campaign is still young; the first of a two-legged affair takes place in Turkey four days after Arsenal welcome Aston Villa on the inaugural day of the new season. And Mertesacker is pleased that the Emirates plays host to the second leg.
"We hope that [playing] the first game away is a bit of an advantage for us," he said.
"We have to concentrate on that game.
“[Playing] away in Istanbul is always special, the fans are passionate and we have to cope with that and realise that we have a chance to qualify for the Champions League.
"We did a lot in the last season, especially in the last 10 games to get the chance to get [in] the qualifiers. We have to focus on that."
