Per- Petr Cech gives us a lift

As has been the case since he signed for Arsenal, Petr Cech has been praised by yet another one of his teammates – on this occasion, Per Mertesacker.

The Gunners vice-captain praised the 33-year-old, former Chelsea man, for his influence on the team’s morale both on and off the pitch.

Cech joined Arsenal this summer in a deal worth roughly £11m, and has been hotly tipped to have a Jens Lehmman-like impact, with the former Gunners man also joining at 33, and going on to become a key member of the Invincibles side.

Despite being a ‘keeper of such vital experience and awe-inspiring talent, Cech faltered on his debut, making a couple of mistakes, which led to West Ham defeating Arsenal on the first day of the season, but after a promising performance against Crystal Palace, Arsenal’s vice-captain has backed the former Chelsea shot-stopper to keep on influencing the side.

The former German international said: “He is very experienced.

“You can feel that, he has lots of things to say in the dressing room he gives us a great lift.

“Even when we lose a game, he has some great ideas on and off the pitch. He is very important for us and a good addition.

“He is experienced enough to think about what went wrong [against West Ham], you don’t have to tell him. My feeling is he comes back even stronger, so there is no doubt he will be a great addition for us.”

Despite being heavily involved in the loss against West Ham, Mertesacker refused to place the blame on his teammate.

“There was not just one mistake [against West Ham] – when a goal happens, there are always three of four small mistakes a lot of the time,” said the Arsenal vice-captain. “It was more down to us to analyse what went wrong in general, and there was a lot.

“Last week was a reminder to ourselves to be aware that everywhere in the Premier League there is big competition.”

“The interaction between the goalkeeper and the back four has to be top to compete in the Premier League.

“Petr came and had that understanding from the start, we both communicate well and understand each other as someone who has to talk and is really responsible. We match our ambitions on the pitch, and so it is great to communicate with him.”