Cech blasts 'unacceptable' Arsenal

Joe Wright

Cech blasts 'unacceptable' Arsenal image

Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech slammed his side's performance in their Premier League thrashing by Liverpool on Sunday, describing it as "quite simply unacceptable".

The Gunners were torn apart at Anfield as goals from Roberto Firmino, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Daniel Sturridge sealed a 4-0 win for Jurgen Klopp's side.

Manager Arsene Wenger described his side's performance as "absolutely disastrous" as they slumped to a second defeat in a row and failed even to register a shot on target.

And Cech was equally scathing in his assessment, telling Sky Sports: "It was quite simply unacceptable for the size of the club we are and the team we have.

"You can come and lose 4-0, it can happen on a bad day, you can fight and be unlucky. But not like it happened today.

"We were not fighting, running enough, winning any individual battles and we completely failed to respond to the way they were playing. This is the most disappointing thing.

"We completely failed and we have only ourselves to blame. The only positive is that we have to respond and we have time to respond, because it is early doors [in the season]."

Arsenal's defeat, coupled with last week's 1-0 loss at Stoke City, means they are six points behind league leaders Manchester United after only three matches of the 2017-18 season.

Cech, however, insists he would walk away from football if he did not truly believe his side were capable of recovering and mounting a title challenge.

"If I didn't believe we can do it, I would probably retire," he said. "I believe this team has everything to compete and win the title.

"We have shown our ability in many games. We have to make sure we are consistent."

Joe Wright

Joe Wright Photo

Joe is a Senior Editor at Sporting News. He was previously a sub editor and writer for Goal.com before spending six years as part of the Stats Perform editorial news service, covering major global sports including football, tennis, boxing, NBA, rugby union and athletics. Joe has reported live on some of the biggest games in football, including two UEFA Champions League finals, Euro 2016, the Confederations Cup 2017 and the 2018 World Cup final at the end of a month in Russia.