Per Mertesacker has been coming in for some criticism…
Arsenal legend Frank McLintock has blamed the team’s defensive problems on the Gunners’ tactics, reports talkSPORT.
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The former captain of the North London club also said that people should stop blaming just Per Mertesacker for the amount of goals they are conceding. He believes that the centre-back’s time at Werder Bremen and over one hundred caps for the German national team prove that he is good enough to play at the highest level.
Despite winning the World Cup in the summer, the 30-year-old has looked shaky and in danger of making mistakes whenever he has been on the pitch. Injuries and Wenger’s inability to sign a proven defender in the last transfer window have meant that Mertesacker has had to play on because of a lack of options to replace him.
The 75-year-old club legend reckons that the Frenchman needs to change the way that he has the team playing if he wants to quell the disquiet over the way they are defending.
“Per Mertesacker has got more than 100 caps for Germany so he must be a blooming good player so maybe it’s the way Arsenal play as well,” he said on Weekend Sports Breakfast. “Mertesacker hasn’t been good this year, definitely, and maybe that’s the effects of the World Cup but I also think the tactics are bad.”