Arsenal u23 year coach Steve Bould has praised Tyreece John-Jules after a brace from the 18-year-old striker at the weekend.

Tyreece John-Jules (Photo via Twitter / ArsenalAcademy)
Tyreece John-Jules (Photo via Twitter / ArsenalAcademy)

John-Jules made his fourth start of the Premier League 2 season against Leicester City on Saturday, and he ended up scoring twice to overturn a one-goal deficit and win the game for Arsenal.

The striker had taken a few games to get going in front of goal, scoring one in his previous three, but his performances had still been of a high quality and had allowed fellow striker Folarin Balogun to shine.

That didn’t go unnoticed by head coach Steve Bould, who took the opportunity after the game to sing the praises of the young centre-forward.

“Tyreece, for the whole 90 minutes, played well so he deserved his two goals and he’s just come back from England duty and he looks a good player,” Bould said.

”The kid can play, he can play as a nine or a 10, he can play central midfield and he just nods his head and gets on with it and enjoys his football. He’s a very good footballer, and he’s intelligent enough to play numerous positions and his first goal today was fabulous finish with his left foot.

”We’re all pleased for him, he works tremendously hard, doesn’t say too much and gets on with his football and today showed at what level he can perform at.”

Tyreece John-Jules (via Twitter / ArsenalAcademy)
Tyreece John-Jules (via Twitter / ArsenalAcademy)

We saw glimpses of John-Jules’ ability in his minimal appearances in pre-season, scoring twice against Boreham Wood FC and setting up Eddie Nketiah’s winning goal against Bayern Munich. At this stage, however, he’s still yet to make his competitive debut for the first team.

That could change next week in the League Cup, with Alexandre Lacazette out injured. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang surely can’t play every game for the next few weeks, so it may be time to introduce 18-year-old John-Jules to senior football.