Arsenal under-18s head coach Adam Birchall was pleased with his team’s response after going a goal down in Saturday morning's 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace.
Following Seb Williams’ header that put Palace in front, Brando Bailey-Joseph’s second-half strike earned us a well-fought point in this intense London derby.
"It was similar in a lot of ways to the Norwich game last week. We spoke a lot about playing with more courage and pushing higher up the pitch. I was very pleased with their intent and the performance they delivered.
"At half-time, I told them it was up to them, and we made a couple of tactical adjustments. Brando was brilliant on the wing—he was a threat throughout. The lads showed a lot of heart to come back and get a point.
"Jack Porter made a couple of fantastic saves as well. I was really pleased with his performance. He’s used his experience with the first team to drive himself further in training. He's shown great leadership skills."
This was Adam’s first home game in charge of the under-18s, and he’s relishing the role: "I love it. It’s been really good, and like with any change, it takes time to embed new ideas. But the players have been outstanding in training, and we’ve been very clear that training sets us up for the games.
"We’ll keep pushing ourselves, and hopefully, there’ll be even better performances in the weeks to come."
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