The father of Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has slammed his son's teammates. Szczesny has found his position under the spotlight this week following revelations he was caught smoking in the showers after Arsenal's 2-0 defeat at Southampton on New Year's Day, when his errors had played a part for both goals.

But Maciej Szczesny, himself a former Poland international goalkeeper, claims the Arsenal defenders must also shoulder their share of the blame for when things went wrong on the pitch.

He told Sportowego: "He made a mistake for the first (Southampton) goal, coming too far from the goal, but please look at the Arsenal defence - how these guys are playing is a disaster, but for some reason, nobody pays any attention to it.

"Laurent Koscielny should immediately have run (back) to protect Wojciech, and Per Mertesacker should have stood in the goal.

"Unfortunately they did not do that and gave him zero support, and in that situation Mertesacker showed the agility of a rhinoceros.

"Wojciech is often paying for it (the mistakes), and that he really cares. He needs someone who will critically analyse every game with him, but also remain positive.

"Someone should support him, but the coaching staff at Arsenal are not doing that, meanwhile the entire defence this season is an embarrassment."