Mertesacker: Chelsea are still better and we have to learn quickly!

Arsenal may not have lost 6-0 at Stamford Bridge this time, but a title challenge still looks some way off as Gunners defender Per Mertesacker doesn’t think his side have made much progress when it comes to matching Chelsea.

The German World Cup winner was brutally honest in his assessment of his side’s defeat, with the centre-back admitting that Arsenal need to improve if they are going to be serious rivals to the Blues, especially in attacking positions.

‘I think we defended quite well. There was always a cover, there was always protection,’ he told Sky in a post-match interview.

‘In the final third we had a couple of decent possibilities to come through, but we missed the last pass or the last touch.

‘We have to admit that they [Chelsea] are still better and we have to learn quickly’.

Goals from Eden Hazard and Diego Costa consigned Arsenal to a 2-0 defeat, leaving them in eighth place after the weekend’s fixtures.