Arsenal’s hopes of finishing in the top four took a hit today when Unai Emery’s side slipped to a 1-0 defat to West Ham at the London Stadium.
The Gunners never really got going against their London rivals, with West Ham’s impressive young midfielder Declan Rice scoring the only goal of the game early in the second-half.
Speaking after the game Arsenal captain Laurent Koscielny called on his team to regain their focus and lamented his sides lack of composure in the final third.
“I think in the final third we needed to keep more calm and not try to find the final ball and to continue to play with movement.’’ Koscielny told Sky Sports.
“In the second half we didn’t stop but conceded the goal early. We had some chances and we didn’t score. It is difficult to win if you don’t score. We need to keep our ambition and our game. We can come back.
“We needed to be clean with the ball and we weren’t. In football if you give a small chance to your opponent you pay and today we did.
“When you are arriving towards Christmas you know it is a big period and it is hard to compete at the same level. We started the new year with a win and we prepared for this game and came here with ambition for three points but we need to keep calm and focused on how we want to play.”
Arenal’s next fixture is against Chelsea at the Emirates next weekend, a game that could well decide their chances of finishing in the top four this season.