The head of the Arsenal Youth Setup Andries Jonker has expressed his confidence in the current Arsenal U18 side. Following their victory over Dinamo Zagreb the Arsenal youth boss praised his side for the flair and creativity they showed.
Speaking to Arsenal Player, the Dutchman praised his side, who beat Dinamo Zagreb last Wednesday and singled out Man of the Match Chris Willock as the star man. The 17-year-old English winger scored an impressive solo goal after beating three defenders and also won a penalty for his side.
We have high expectations of Chris, we know he’s a very, very talented player who can decide a match.
He did that but he has to develop as well.
Jonker also praised the rest of the U18s side for their calm, impressive display and highlighted Ben Sheaf’s contribution to the game after he slotted home the penalty that Willock won.
We have a lot of creative offensive players and we also have smart players like Ben who have a lot of understanding of the game. He stabilises the team and help us keep the ball.
In these kinds of situations when he can get a penalty, he can keep a cool head, finish the penalty and then it’s done.
Andries Jonker moved on to suggest that he already knew of his side’s potential and didn’t need their latest game to prove it. However, he admitted that they are already looking ahead to their next game, Olympiacos at home, and expects his side to earn themselves another win.
I have a lot of confidence in the potential we have already. We didn’t need this game to tell me that, but it confirms that we have got a good group.
We agreed that we would focus on the next match straight away and the next match is Olympiacos at home.
That’s the one to win.
