Mehmet Ali gave his thoughts on our under-21s first win of 2025 on Friday night.
Our Gunners made a strong start but were frustrated by a stubborn Nottingham Forest team until Salah Oulad M’Hand struck just after the half-hour mark.
We continued to dominate in the second half and won a penalty midway through the half after a sensational run from Maldini Kacurri ended with the defender being fouled in the Forest box.
Khayon Edwards made no mistake from the spot, securing a 2-0 win for Mehmet Ali’s under-21s.
On his assessment of the game…
“It was a really good night, I think we had a strong team on paper and when we played Nottingham Forest last year I felt that their game plan was good and they dominated against us in terms of their attitude and their playing style, whereas tonight that was the reverse.
“I thought our boys’ mentality and attitude to really go after our opponents with and without the ball was unbelievable, there were a lot of players that got personal bests in their performances and we looked like he had a few players who were hungry to go and play men’s football.
“I hope there were a lot of scouts watching tonight to pick up some of these boys because I thought they were excellent tonight.”
On the quality of individual performances…
“Yeah, I thought Harrison (Dudziak) as a holding midfielder was excellent, his ball retention and the way he looked after it and the way he picked up seconds was very good. Maldini (Kacurri) and Tommy (Setford) in goal were excellent, Tommy with his voice and Maldini going on a run like he did to win the penalty!”
“But even the basics, he (Maldini) did really well, his first contacts, his marking in the box, some of his headers, he did really, really well. Those three were probably the pick of the bunch but overall as a tea,m I thought our discipline in terms of playing against a team that went man-to-man all over the pitch was really, really good.”
On seeing the game out from 1-0…
“Yeah it was important, I think we had two chances when it was 1-0 and I thought we should’ve taken one of them and we didn’t.
“I always felt comfortable at 1-0 because I thought we defended really well but of course, it always helps to get the second. The way we want to play, we’ve got to get the third and the fourth, that’s our mentality, that’s the attitude I want these boys to show to try and get into a first team, whether on loan or on a permanent.”
On Nathan Butler-Oyedeji making his first team debut on Wednesday…
“It’s unreal for Nathan, the way that the boys were on the bench went to congratulate him after, the way that our boss had the faith and trust to bring him on the pitch.
“Nathan is someone who is an older player but what he does every single day in terms of his professionalism, how he’s a role model for the younger lads, he goes over and trains with the first team, he deserved that (first-team appearance), he earned that and that’s what our manager is all about.
“It’s not a given, you don’t just get that, that’s a lot of hard work that’s contributed to Nathan getting on the pitch and he played tonight so I’m really proud of him and he just needs to keep going and keep pushing.”
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