The Gunners jumped to a 2-0 lead through Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka, but the Cottagers set up a nervy finish, with Rodrigo Muniz scoring in injury-time as Arsenal held on to win 2-1.
“Much better second half than the first,” said Silva. “Our first half was not at a good level, probably too much respect for Arsenal.
“They pushed us a little bit more lower than we’d like to see, but we were not aggressive enough on the ball, to be honest.
“The two soft goals we conceded made an impact, really soft, soft goals that we conceded, but the way we tried always to keep the ball ourselves first half, and not really to be aggressive and to try to punish them, I think made an impact.
“Was one of the things that we changed clearly in the second half. And when you are more aggressive on the ball, trying to match them and trying to be aggressive, of course, we are able to create more chances.
“And that’s one of the reasons why second half we created four good chances – one with Raúl, one with Adama, and two very good ones with Rodrigo, one of them that he scored.
“And when you are able to, second half, create four good chances to score, means that you did something different in the first half.
“We didn't have the ball really so much first half in our offensive half, but Arsenal was not creating enough as well. Okay, more on the ball, our organisation was there, but that first goal gave them the confidence and the calmness that they needed in that moment.”