Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has challenged his squad to recover quickly from their disappointing opening day defeat to West Ham at the Emirates Stadium.
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West Ham United midfielder Reece Oxford, who became his club’s youngest ever first-team player on Sunday, said he was rejected by Tottenham Hotspur before he joined the Hammers at the under-13 level. Cech was beaten to a Dimitri Payet free-kick by Cheikhou Kouyate who headed home just before half-time and could not stop a long-range Mauro Zarate strike after the break that doubled West Ham’s lead.
Asked if he had changed his mind after the lacklustre efforts of France forward Olivier Giroud against West Ham, Wenger said: “If an exceptional solution turns up we do it, but it’s important not to think we must take a solution from outside”. [It’s] a bad start but sometimes you need a bad start to come back and realise that you have to give more than just what we did.
Cech’s arrival after an 11-year trophy-laden spell at Chelsea was met with great optimism by supporters and hailed as the missing piece in Arsenal’s quest for a first Premier League title since 2004.
You can have a mistake but the last seasons from him at Chelsea he has been outstanding. “It is good, he was great, so me being compared to him is an honour really“.
The 16-year-old produced a performance far above his years against an all-star Arsenal team including Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla, but yet he could have been turning out for their north London rivals Tottenham.
“I am very proud of him”, added Bilic. “I knew before the game it would be tricky and that West Ham could be more advanced in their preparation than us”.
Standard Sport understands Arsenal are interested in the Frenchman, and Keown believes that Wenger needs to invest in a striker, but says the Arsenal manager will not make public his interest in Benzema – or any other players – until a deal has been completed.
The 2015/16 Premier League season kicks off for Arsenal as they look to build on an impressive pre-season when they host West Ham United. “I am convinced that we will respond well to that accident”.
I thought we’d moved past that but it seems that there could be some traces lingering.
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“Today we have been hurt mentally and it is a good opportunity to respond”.
