Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker admits that his side “didn’t find our own game” as they struggled to a 2-2 draw with Liverpool.
The Gunners were widely criticised for a performance in which they recorded the lowest possession statistics and faced the most shots in a Premier League game since Opta records began in August 2003.
The centre-back was at least pleased that Arsenal did not suffer the same fate that befell them on their last visit to Anfield, a 5-1 thrashing last season, but concedes that they must still do a great deal better.
“If you remember last year, we had a very different performance to what we had [on Sunday],” Mertesacker told the club’s official website. “We tried to stop Raheem Sterling going through on the back four with his speed. We didn’t find our own game.
“We realised we had to stick together and find space [and knew] if we got chances in the second half we could have scored. We did and then we tried to defend in the last minute, which we did but not as good as I thought [we could have].
“Overall we have to take responsibility for our game – we want to dictate but we were on always on the back foot.
“I’m not really pleased with the performance but we take the point now and we’re looking forward to December 26. We have to dig in now and try to beat QPR.
“When you compare [the 2-2 draw] to last year, this is a much better result but I’m not very pleased with our performance. We can do much better and we have to find it.”