Emirates Stadium centre-back keen to apportion blame for second half collapes away from defence.
Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker claims that his side’s inability to retain a three goal lead against Anderlecht was not solely down to the club’s defence according to Metro.
Read more:
Reus Arsenal: Borussia Dortmund attacker on Gunners wish-list
Read more Arsenal transfer news.
SEE ALSO: World’s Top 50 Hottest Sportswomen.
The north London side were seemingly crusing at 3-0 up on the hour but somehow contrived to concede three goals at home to Anderlect.
This has led to a raft of criticism, most of which leveled at Mertsacker and his fellow defenders but the German has been quick to counter this claim, stating;
‘When we drop sometimes everyone has to be involved to defend,’
‘You can’t afford for just five or six players to defend, or just the back four. That is what we lacked especially in the final third and in the last 20 minutes.
‘We have to defend better as a team. We did not stop them [Anderlecht] playing and they are good at it.
‘As you could see, even in the final third, when you do not put them under pressure, they can deliver good balls through the middle. They can cause trouble and we just left them playing. So in general that was the problem.’
The result means Arsenal are highly unlikely to finish top of their group though a single point from either of their final two encounters will secure passage to the knock-out stages.