Per Mertesacker

Published: 14 August, 2015
by STEVE BARNETT

PER Mertesacker is calling for a more “decisive” display on Sunday when Arsenal attempt to shake off their shambolic start to the season by beating Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. 

Even though the new season is only one game old, there’s a growing pressure on the Gunners to get a good result against Alan Pardew’s side following the 2-0 defeat against West Ham in their opening game of the season at the Emirates Stadium. 

Mertesacker said “misunderstandings” proved costly against the Hammers, and that it was now important to turn “the disappointing start” into a positive recovery. 

“Our job now is to be positive,” said the Arsenal vice-captain. 

“That was only 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 what you just 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 and to bounce back is even more important now. 

“We were not decisive enough, especially not in the final third. We can only blame ourselves for the result against West Ham. 

“Hopefully we can come back from that disappointment. The confidence was high, everyone felt great but we had a couple of misunderstandings, especially in the first half. We lost the ball a lot, we were not patient enough at times, so we know that there is a lot to work on.” 

Manager Arsene Wenger says the trip to Crystal Palace will provide his players with the perfect opportunity to recover from the “accident” that unfolded in their opening fixture.  

“Against West Ham the players were maybe too nervous and put too much pressure on themselves,” he said. 

“We were not convincing offensively or defensively. We have been hurt mentally and Sunday is a good opportunity to respond. We will respond to that accident.”