Per Mertesacker: Defeats to Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea ruined our title chances

Per Mertesacker admits defeats to Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea ruined their season

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker has admitted that the Gunners don’t deserve to be title contenders because of the manner in which they were dealt defeat by their title rivals. While the German also revealed what “killed” the side’s title hopes.

Arsene Wenger’s side, who had topped the Premier League pile for a large part of the season, lost 6-3 at Manchester City, 5-1 at Liverpool and were embarrassed

The Germany international believes it’s those heavy away defeats which ‘killed’ his teammates and said the north Londoners must learn how to defend in the first 20 minutes against their biggest rivals if they are to have any hope of going one better next season.

He told the Mirror: “Everyone dreamed about the title, but it takes more than staying top until the winter period,” admitted the Germany centre-back.

“We could not afford [to lose] those big games against big teams, so we did not deserve to be in the first three. That is something we have to manage much better next year.

“The away games killed us. We have to learn how to play and how to defend in the first 20 minutes [Arsenal conceded four in the first 20 minutes at Anfield and three in 17 minutes at Chelsea].

The former Werder Bremen man went on to highlight the Gunners susceptibility to the counterattack, an attacking style which was once the forte of Wenger’s sides.

“The games were all similar, we got caught on the break and that is something we have to look at,” he continued.