Our under-21s head coach Max Porter was critical of his side’s performance, despite securing qualification to the Premier League 2 knockout phase with a 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion.
Demiane Agustien’s goal in the first half proved enough to edge the tie in north London, but Max felt there was a lack of conviction throughout.
“I’m going to be totally honest, we did not perform well. We had a smell.
“Maybe just before we scored the goal, we strung some passes together and we looked more at how we wanted to play.
“We scored a good goal, but I think either side of that, we weren’t at the level, not at all. We say well done because the industry we want to go into is about winning. It is, and we have to reference that.
“It’s been the basis for quite a few games, though. West Brom deserved at least a point, possibly more. Khari (Ranson) made some really good saves. We had Braydon (Clarke) and Joshua (Ogunnaike) clear off the line.
“But somehow, on a really poor performance, we find a way. But we need to be better.”
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U21s report: Arsenal 1-0 West Bromwich Albion
The win sees us progress to the PL2 elimination phase, securing a top-16 finish, with our opponents due to be confirmed upon the conclusion of the regular season on Friday, April 17.
Max believes the opportunity provides an ideal platform for our young Gunners to develop and gain valuable experience of knockout football. “I think it’s brilliant. It’s probably one of the few things that I think is good in the PL2 division, that there are play-offs at the end of it.
“We experienced it last year. We played Manchester City. It was one of our best performances of the season, but we still came up short.
“I think for what the players need to go into next, to feel that edge of it being all on the line for one game, you’ve got to find a way to perform under that kind of pressure, if it’s pressure. I think that’s what the play-offs will give us, so hopefully we can get another good one.
“We need a far better performance against (Crystal) Palace, and hopefully we can finish strong there. Whoever we play against (in the knockout stage), we have to back ourselves and give ourselves the best chance.
As Max mentions, we have one more league game against the Eagles to play before turning our attention to the next round, in which he demands an improved display from his side.
The tie poses another chance to finish as high up the table as possible, with final standings dictating the identity of our next opponent. “I think the main thing for us is to go there and put on an awesome performance,” he said. “We have to dominate the ball back.
“We have to make far better decisions with the ball. Without the ball, we actually impressed the world today. We got to half-time ahead, but for us today, it was what we didn’t do with the ball.
“We had too many cheap giveaways and too many poor decisions. So for us, the main thing is we need to go there and put on a performance that we all know. If we perform better, we have a better chance of winning.
“But definitely, we need to go there and put on a performance more like us. We’ve had some really good performances this year at times, I think in many games. So we need to get to that level and hopefully win.
“It’s always good to have a performance and a win, and that puts us in a really good position for whoever we face (beyond the Palace game).
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