Per Mertesacker says Arsenal mustn’t wallow in their Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich with three important points up for grabs in the Premier League on Saturday.
Insisting that a win against Sunderland is the least the squad can deliver at the end of DEATHRUN1 the BFG also tried to put a positive spin on the return leg at the Allianz Arena in a few weeks time.
Speaking after this evening’s 2-0 home defeat, the centre-back told Arsenal Player: “We have to switch on quickly again on Saturday in an important game in the Premier League and get the three points and after that we have a little break.
“We need that because we have played a lot of games. Our team has great spirit and will come back from this.
“We started really well [tonight], we deserved one goal at least but we dropped back after the red card and our [task] was even more difficult.
“We kept our defensive spirit for nearly 90 minutes but you remember Munich are a fantastic team, they play possession very well.
“It is a little blow but if you look back to last year, we lost 3-1 and so we are looking forward to Munich – why can we not repeat what happened last year?”
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain also played up the battling quality shown by the Gunners in a tough second half that seemed to sap the energy from the players’ legs.
“I thought we battled really well for as long as we could to try and keep them at bay it’s just disappointing that at the end they managed to get another goal.
“They had the extra man and with the quality they have it’s always going to be hard to get on the ball. I thought we started really well tonight and obviously we had a few chances early on and we had the penalty.
“We did start really well and that’s what we wanted to do so we’re really happy with that.”
I tough we play well considering what happened, the team was up for it, now let’s bring that mentallity to or tough games in weeks to come and we might just get a trophy….. COYG
there’s nothing to be disappointed about. Team did great it just wasn’t our night.the way we played tonight I can see the end of our trophy drought coming.COYG
until the red card i was a bit surprised at how good we were, it was the best we’ve played for months.
maybe the champs league is beyond us now, but with the ox playing well and sanogo and others stepping up, we can get our premier league back on track.
playing like we did for the first 35 we can beat man c and chelsea in our head to heads, for sure
@bip…… Who said I was disappointed
Really disappointed by the game. We were in it until schez was there. I just don’t understand the red card and penalty combo. If it’s penalty than surely the goal scoring chance has been given back. There is no need for red card. I said the same yesterday for city game.
It’s double whammy specially in a game where away goals matter.
Anyway, as Per said, hopefully we will win on Saturday and get ourselves ready for final push.
Yeah, surely the Goalkeeper should be excluded from the red card penalty combo. It should only stand for last man defenders.
The ever classy Mirror.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bg3wqmBCQAAeskQ.jpg
I feel like throwing up
Difference between time and Robben? Time passes
A D
R i
J v
E i
N n
R g
O C
B u
B n
E t
N !
Thought we were on for a great start until Ozil missed the pen…..would have had a chance only conceding the 1 goal but I think every Gooner knew the 2nd would come! I really hope the boys prove us all wrong in 3 weeks time but I honestly cant see it the form Bayern are in this season…..awesome is an understatement!! Gotta focus on League and FA Cup push
I’m feeling a bit anxious about Ox’s injury, let’s hope he won’t be out long, he’s one of our most important players at the moment
If we attack with the same menace as we did with 11 men today we’re gonna tear Sunderland apart. COYG!
Gonna need to rotate after this one… Thinking the attacking 4 will be Podolski, Cazorla, Gnabry, and Giroud up top
Podolski, Cazorla, Gnabry and Sanogo.
The second Ozil went to take the penalty i wasnt confident first thing that went through my head was he doesnt score often and he didnt look confident neither…
At the end of the day at the top level you have to take your chances and we failed to do so i feel this tie is over and its time to focus on the league and FA cup now.
Its not over till its over. Its just half time at the moment. 2-0 is not an unassailable lead, and if they score and we win by two goals, we are through automatically.
Agreed let’s not focus too much on losing to the best team in the world right now.
On a happier note: I can’t believe the Ukraine people are so pissed off with Sp*rs coming into their country.
I was really bittered by this loss, it pained me a lot
The way we played i wonder y we couldn’t beat Man united home and away this season.
seriously am heartbroken. All dsame kudos to d players.they showed up a gud fightin spirit last nyt. Lets not b wallow abt dt game.
@arseblog
Text speak …. ugh!
at the end of death run 1.. we have lost two games, drawn one and won one.. but still not out of any competition.. bad, but not as bad as people make it seem.. if only we hadnt conceded that 88th min goal against Bayern i would say that we have had 3 decent results out of 4 matches..
I thought özil put was determined to do well and was doing so until the red card. I am sure he will show his class after this rough patch. You can never lose class, he is just going through a bad phase..
i didnt see the refs name on bayerns team list….. an error maybe cos that shitty decision cost us the game
When playing well and opportunities missed I always get the feeling of being hungover. Should’ve been drinking last night then. What a waster.
@ Eiregun … Er maybe Bip was commenting on the actual Per article…
“Per Mertesacker says Arsenal mustn’t wallow”
“It is a little blow”
“it’s just disappointing that at the end they managed to get another goal.”
(Careful, don’t ego trip on being first poster)
I can’t help but get the feeling we get totally screwed by refs in Europe. Why didn’t Bayern get a red earlier? Was it because it was so early in the game he deemed a yellow was sufficient? Anyway it’s HT and as they say a 2 – 0 lead is dangerous. That first 30 mins we played we were more then a match for them.
If we get an early goal in Munich it’s game on and we should have 11 player then also!!
Just watched the replay–whatever happened last night, one thing is certain: we were very much in the game until the red card, Ozil is not “lazy,” and that ref is a complete and utter cunt, all around.
2 injuries (Ox + Gibbs), 1 red card and a missed penalty
Luck just wasn’t on our side today