Arsenal ace laments Chelsea defeat and targets ‘massive’ West Ham clash

Monday, January 21, 2013
2:23 PM

Theo Walcott has urged Arsenal to learn from their mistakes in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea and get back to winning ways against West Ham on Wednesday night.

The Gunners were completely overrun in the first half at Stamford Bridge and lucky to only be 2-0 down at half time.

Walcott, who signed his new contract at the Emirates last week, hit back with a goal after the break but it was too late for Arsene Wenger’s side, who now lie seven points behind fourth-place Spurs.

“We didn’t really start until the second half,” Walcott told Arsenal Player.

“It’s a shame that we conceded two sloppy goals and then woke up a bit.

“We need to show that character and desire to win from the start, not when we concede a goal.

“That is the disappointing thing. We dominated the second half and it is just a shame that we could not get the equaliser that we probably deserved.

“There were some positives to take out of it, but we need to start learning from the mistakes that we have made.”

The Gunners welcome Sam Allardyce’s West Ham to the Emirates next, and Walcott knows a win is essential if they are to keep in touch with the top four.

“There are a lot of teams that have got stronger this year, so we need to step on the gas,” he said.

“We don’t want to be playing catch-up. We want to get points on the board as soon as possible.

“We have a tough game at home against West Ham, so we need to be ready.

“It is a massive game, we have home support and we need to start clocking up points there.

“We have been hot and cold at home of late, so we must be very positive and if we show the commitment that we did in the second half [against Chelsea] we should be fine.”