We returned to our free-flowing best with a thrilling 5-1 win over West Ham United at London Stadium on Saturday.
Needless to say, Arsène Wenger was the happier manager in his post-match press conference, where he was asked about our second-half performance, our forward options and how we have progressed in 2016.
on an impressive second half…
You can say that, but we had a strong team performance for 90 minutes with very few weaker periods. There is only one regret: that we didn’t take our chances in the first half. We were a bit short with 1-0 up at half-time and we know how it plays on the mind. Then you think you could pay for that, but we maintained the pressure on West Ham and overall we finished in a very strong way. We were always dangerous, when we lost the ball in their final third we won it quickly back. When we were on the breaks, we looked always pacy to make the difference. Maybe as well we were patient enough when we had the domination to keep the ball well and it was a strong team performance today.
on the attacking talent in his team...
I don’t know, I think every game gives you a different problem. It looks at the moment that we score more goals away from home than at home. Is that because the opponent plays a bit more out? Is that because we play with a bit more freedom? That will be interesting to analyse. Do we play with a block that is less deep away from home? If you look at our results away from home, they’ve been very convincing.
on what’s changed compared to the last game against West Ham…
I felt overall, on our side, we had a stronger defensive performance today and to be completely objective I must say as well that West Ham have less confidence at the moment that they had last year at the same period. They have, at the moment, two handicaps. They are playing in a new ground. We have gone through that, it’s not completely comfortable, especially if it’s added with a lack of confidence. Today as well, I think they missed some important players in their squad.
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