Thilo Kehrer believes West Ham United need to analyse what went wrong in the opening ten minutes of their 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
The Hammers got off to a terrible start against their London rivals after Mikel Arteta's men raced into a two-goal lead with early strikes from Gabriel Jesus and Martin Odegaard.
However, David Moyes’ side fought back to claim a vital point with a Said Benrahma penalty reducing the deficit before half-time and then a Jarrod Bowen equaliser in the second-half.
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Although they responded well to going two goals down to secure a positive result, Kehrer says there are areas the Hammers can improve on after a poor start to the game.
“It is difficult to describe what happened in the first ten minutes. We need to analyse it to see exactly what we can do better, but there are things that we can do better for sure," Kehrer told club media.
“We conceded two goals from their first two chances and we know that we can do better there. But we reacted very well and we fought ourselves back into the game.
“You prepare yourself for the game and you do a lot of preparation. It’s so important for everybody in the team to get a good start but it didn’t go how we planned. We have to look at what went wrong and where we can do things better.
“But, for sure, we can take positives out of the game. From 20 minutes onwards, we were outstanding. The whole team were there and the fans were there. The energy was great and we had chances. We defended well and we won most of our duels. That is the key for us. We are happy with about 70 minutes of the game and the result.”
In the second-half, Arsenal could have restored their two goal deficit after Michail Antonio was penalised for handball, only for Bukayo Saka to send his spot kick wide. Bowen levelled things up shortly after, with Kehrer providing a lofted pass into the box that was fired in on the volley by the winger.
West Ham could have gone on to claim all three points, with Antonio coming closest to putting the home side in front when his header hit the woodwork late on. But in the end, it was a well earned point gained against a side currently sitting atop the Premier League table and a result Kehrer says West Ham can build upon.
“I think we could have taken three points but you have to see the whole game,” Kehrer added. “You have to see that Arsenal could have extended their lead as well. If they scored their penalty then they would have been 3-1 up, so we got a little bit lucky there. But we were dominating in the second half and we had more chances than them.
"We are happy with the result and the point, but we know we could have won. But we have to stay humble, analyse it, take this result and go forward. I’m happy to help the team with the assist but I think the more important thing for us is, no matter what, keep in the game. That counts for all of us in the team and now, for the rest of the season, we need to stick together and fight for each other. That’s the way to go.”
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