Arsenal still getting used to goalkeeper Petr Cech, says Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker has admitted Arsenal’s defence are still adjusting to life with Petr Cech, although the goalkeeper has already struck up a relationship with his centre-halves and made a hugely favourable impression behind the scenes.

Cech, a £10m addition this summer after he was surprisingly permitted to leave Chelsea and move across the capital, was uncharacteristically shaky in the home defeat to West Ham United on the opening weekend. He was more assured at Crystal Palace where Arsenal won 2-1, although Cech, 33, was denied a first Premier League clean sheet for the club by Joel Ward’s equaliser from distance.

“Sometimes it takes longer than you think to get to know a new goalkeeper,” said Mertesacker, the former Germany defender. “The interaction between the goalkeeper and the back four has to be at the top level to compete in the Premier League. Petr came in and I had an understanding from the start: we both communicate well and understand each other, but we keep working at it. He is someone who has to talk [to his centre-halves] and is really responsible. We match our ambitions on the pitch and so it is great to communicate with him.

“He is very experienced. You can feel that – he has a lot of things to say and, in the dressing room, gives us a great lift. Even when we lose a game, he has some good ideas on and off the pitch, which shows how important he can be for us. He is experienced enough to know what went wrong [against West Ham], so you don’t have to tell him. Mistakes will happen, but my feeling is he comes back even stronger. That game last week [against West Ham] was a reminder for us to be aware there is big competition everywhere in the Premier League. There was not that intensity which we had at home but the way we responded at Palace was very good. It was important to bounce back.”

Arsenal play Liverpool on Monday seeking a first home win this season. “We praised ourselves for our good end to last season but we wanted to start stronger this time around,” Mertesacker said. “Liverpool are an opponent who have invested a lot of money and will be great competitors for us but we want to give something back to our crowd after last week’s start.”