Petr Cech stood by Calum Chambers and Rob Holding following Arsenal’s 4-3 loss against Liverpool on Sunday, insisting that they did well.

To be fair, the goalkeeper, who was captain on the day, has a point. It was an experience for them. Just as we say it’s important for young players to feel what winning is like so that they get a taste for it, it can also be helpful to know what losing feels like so that they never want to feel that ever again.

“I thought they did really well,” Cech said.

“When you concede four goals then obviously you cannot be happy as a team because you should not concede four goals at home, but I thought it was a really good experience for them.”

Holding is just 20 years old and was playing for Bolton last season, while Chambers is 21 and hasn’t had the best luck since signing for Arsenal two years ago. They didn’t do half as badly as many seem to think – Calum even scored a goal. Could they have done better defensively? Sure, but so could everyone. They were raw and inexperienced but gave it a good go.

We do need experience but this is no disrespect to Chambers and Holding who did their best on the day. It wasn’t their fault they were thrown in the deep end.