West Ham 1-3 Arsenal
Coach Arsene Wenger’s reaction:
on Theo Walcott is a centre forward…
He slowly gets there. You’re confident now when he gets in front of goal that he will score. Of course he scored an important one today at a moment where the game was a bit 50-50.
on the performance..
We weakened a bit physically in the second half but overall it was a very important test for us today. We expected a difficult game. We were not disappointed – a game with a lot of pace, where both teams went for it in different styles. It was a good test mentally as well, because we went 1-0 down with their first shot on goal. We came back and won this game. You could say that we had a good performance today overall.
on Olivier Giroud’s goal…
In similar situations he nearly scored like that against Olympiacos on Wednesday night. He was good today. He had the physical presence and scored the goal. That will help him a lot I think to adapt very quickly.
on Santi Cazorla:
I think he was overall a delight to watch, from the first to the last minute today. He was very influential in our team and it’s fantastic to watch him play.
on coping with Andy Carroll…
You never can completely control Carroll for 90 minutes. You have to fight for him and be good on the second ball. The problem with West Ham is not only Carroll, but is [also] Nolan on the second ball in the box. We could have been punished once or twice but overall we gave it all to deal well with him. He [Carroll] was really up for it I must say. He did fight from the first to the last minute.
on good momentum going into international break…
It was important for us to respond well and after our defeat against Chelsea, we won against Olympiacos on Wednesday night. We had a difficult game three days later and we knew today a draw was not good enough for us. We went for it. I think we could have lost it as well because Nolan had a very good chance, but we gave absolutely everything to win the game.
on the decisions in the game…
We got a cheap yellow on Gervinho and a penalty turned down on Ramsey but I have to watch it again.
on Kieran Gibbs…
He has a thigh problem. He might be out for England. I believe Cole and Baines are ahead of him [in the pecking order] but it would have been a good opportunity for him to show he could have got in front of them.
on the importance of this win…
We started with a lot of questions raised about the team. We have now played seven games and the belief in the squad is that we have a chance. Of course we now need to do it week after week. The spirit and quality are there. It is about how consistent we are now.
on the Steve Bould effect…
He has done well. But it is difficult. You cannot really measure what the coaches bring to the team. We are a united team with our staff – Neil Banfield, Boro Primorac and Steve Bould. We all do our jobs and we’ll see where we stand at the end of the season.
on Theo’s contribution…
Theo has an outstanding attitude and I don’t rule anybody out. If I did then I would not bring him on in a crucial moment in the game. I believe in him. Gervinho looked a bit tired and Theo made the difference. He scored the second goal and that is the most important one.
