Porter on narrow defeat

Despite the disappointment of a 2-1 defeat to Wolves in the Premier League 2, Arsenal under-21s assistant coach Max Porter commended the collective effort displayed by our young Gunners. 

After conceding an early goal to Ty Barnett, Ethan Nwaneri swiftly equalised with a close-range finish. However, Barnett struck again early in the second half, securing his brace and dealing us our first defeat of 2024.

“I thought the effort of the boys was excellent,” said Porter. “Their attitude, and application was top and we can’t fault them for that.

“What it came to was that Wolves made it very difficult for us. We didn’t have enough quality to consistently break them down. For our standards, we gave away poor goals and with the way they approached the game they made it extremely difficult for us.

“Upon reflection, we’re disappointed to have lost the game but we’ve got to learn to get better in breaking down these types of teams as well as making sure that when we do get chances to be we are ruthless in front of goal.”

Porter reiterated the paramount importance of effort and underscored that players must consistently maintain it to forge a successful career in professional football.

“I think if you want to achieve anything in life let alone football then you’ve got to work hard, you’ve got to be passionate and all the players who started and the ones that came on, they all showed desire and fight. 

“I’m proud of their attitude tonight and I know when I watch it back with Mehmet, he’ll be very proud of that too. However, that’s the standard, if you want to play for Arsenal’s first team or any professional football team then it’s what you’ve got to give daily.”

Porter concluded by speaking of his strong relationship with Mehmet Ali, who unfortunately missed the game through illness.

“Mehmet and I work very well together along with all the other staff. It’s never easy to coach without him because Mehmet’s a fantastic man and an excellent coach. We did the best we could for him and the best compliment I can give him is that I thought the players’ attitudes and application were spot on which is a testament to the culture that he drives every day along with us as staff. 

“We wanted to be able to put on a good performance and get a result for him and hopefully, he’ll get better and be with us soon.”