Per Mertesacker says that Gunners should focus on their game – football news

Per Mertesacker says that Gunners should focus on their game – football news

Arsenal centre back, Per Mertesacker, believes that his side should focus on their game ahead of their Barclays English Premier League clash against Stoke City at their home ground.

The former Werder Bremen defender, who joined Arsenal two years ago and kept a clean sheet on his debut, wants his side to keep their current form. The Gunners are unbeaten in their last three Premier League battles and Mertesacker wants them to carry their momentum.

“Stoke may play differently to Liverpool, but we need to be ready for it. We must get the ball down and play our own game. That is very important against Stoke: to focus on our own game and cope with the long balls and the physical side of things. And then get the ball down as quickly as possible and show what we can do. We will try to put them under pressure so they can’t play those dangerous balls into the area, and don’t have a lot of set-pieces.”

The German centre back wants his side to show consistent performance for the whole 90 minutes. He does not want them to turn off their skills for five to 10 minutes in the match as it can cost them a lot. Arsenal have showed dismal performances in the opening half of their previous few matches. However, they lifted their game in the second half and eventually managed to secure a point. In their last match against Liverpool, the Gunners conceded a goal in the opening half and eventually went 0-2 down after 60 minutes. However, they re-focused after that and managed to secure a draw against the Reds. Mertesacker reflected:

“We are not consistent over 90 minutes, we are resting too much in some parts,” he said. “Focus is so important in football.”

Arsenal will take on Tony Pulis’ side on 2^nd February at the Emirates Stadium.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=37901

Posted by Awais Ahmed on Feb 2 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.