Per Mertesacker reveals why Arsenal were thrashed by Southampton

PER MERTESACKER believes Arsenal's defeat at the hands of Southampton was down to a lack of physicality.

 

Per Mertesacker felt Arsenal lacked the muscle to beat Southampton

 

The Gunners had the chance to go top of the Premier League after Leicester had lost to Liverpool, but turned in a limp performance at St Mary's.

Two goals from Shane Long, one from Jose Fonte and a brilliant curler from Cuco Martina to open the scoring left Arsenal dejected, in stark contrast to their 2-1 defeat of Manchester City five days previously.

And Mertesacker, who was left exposed at times by his centre-back partner Laurent Koscielny but also by the pace of Long, believes he knows why the north London club lost so comfortably.

 

“I think we lacked a lot in terms of how we started the game,” Mertesacker told Arsenal Player. 

“We didn’t look sharp in my opinion and this is a tough place to come to.

“We didn’t match them physically from the start. They scored a wonder goal that didn’t help us but in the end we have to switch on and not make the same mistakes. We have two big home games so lets focus on that.

 

“This game is a heavy defeat for us as we had a big chance but let’s not talk about chances as we have to bounce back very quickly and concentrate on our home game."

With only one day between games to recover, Arsenal will now face Bournemouth at the Emirates, before Newcastle visit on January 2.

Both should represent eminently winnable games for the title contenders, as does the FA Cup third round tie against Sunderland, before difficult trips to Liverpool and Stoke.

 

And Mertesacker is hoping the memory of this defeat will serve as motivation to get through the next run of games.

"We didn’t look good [against Southampton] and we got lots of reminders on what not to do in a game," added Mertesacker.

"Hopefully this will be a reminder - a deep reminder, to concentrate and do things better.”