Arsenal academy coach Andries Jonker spoke after our u19s’ 2-0 win over Bayern Munich in the UEFA Youth League and praised the talent we currently have waiting in the wings.

The senior team weren’t the only ones to come away with a 2-0 against Bayern recently after the youth team produced the same result. Coach, Jonker, believes this was down to patience and biding our time, knowing that the German team needed the win.

Jonker also hailed the huge amount of talent the academy currently has.

“We are very aware we have fantastic players in this age group,” the coach said. ”Today we had a couple of players playing in the Under-17 World Cup so we know we have a good team.”

He continued, “Academy work is the work of years and years so I’m not the one who has done this I’m just trying to help them make steps. I think at the moment with this age group we have a really good group.

“You can see quite well how many players we have. One 15 year-old boy up front and nobody is seeing the difference. We have good players who can handle this level and that is a good feeling.”

It’s fantastic to see our club flourishing from the bottom to the top. The youth we currently have are going to be the ones who may eventually be our future senior team and allowing them to compete in European competitions against teams as large as Bayern is crucial to their development.

The matches give them valuable experience, as well as confidence going forward and the chance to be involved and get their name out there. Well done, lads.