Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker: Community Shield victory over Chelsea means 'nothing'

Per Mertesacker knows Arsenal must put the West Ham defeat behind them if they want to win the title

PER MERTESACKER believes Arsenal must "bounce back" after their disappointing home defeat to West Ham on Sunday.

Arsene Wenger's side lost 2-0 to West Ham thanks to goals from Cheikhou Kouyate and Mauro Zarate on what was a nightmare debut for Petr Cech.
Wenger blamed a lack of fitness for his side's defeat but refused to single out the former Chelsea goalkeeper as the main culprit for the loss.
German defender Mertesacker says the good pre-season Arsenal enjoyed, including a Community Shield victory over Chelsea, means nothing in the grand scheme of things.

"Sometimes it’s hard to explain," he said. "We played a great pre-season but that is absolutely nothing.
"I’ve said that before already, especially after the Community Shield game. That’s reality now.
"It’s a massive loss for us because we had great confidence and now it’s time for us to settle down, stay healthy and look forward to next Sunday."

Arsenal travel to Crystal Palace on Sunday - who came away with an opening day 3-1 victory over Norwich on Saturday - and the 30-year-old is well aware Arsenal must move on from the West Ham defeat.
"Sometimes it’s good to come back from a massive loss. I think we are capable of coming back.
"That was the first game of the season. [It’s] a bad start but sometimes you need a bad start to come back and realise that you have to give more than just what we did.
"We want to have a better start than last season so we need to be very cautious of the situation. To start with a game like that is not good but to bounce back is even more important now.