Jay Emmanuel-Thomas reflects on Arsenal's Youth Cup triumph.
Liverpool |
1-2 |
Arsenal |
Dalla Valle 52 |
(Agg 2-6) |
Watt 25, Ayala (o.g.) 70 |
The FA Youth Cup sponsored by E.ON
The Final, Second Leg
7.45pm, Tuesday 26 May 2009
Anfield, Liverpool FC
Arsenal midfielder Jay Emmanuel-Thomas knows the road from FA Youth Cup football to regular Premier League football is a steep and rocky one.
But after lifting The FA Youth Cup Emmanuel-Thomas says he and his team-mates, the majority of which were English, are ready for the challenge to progress.
"I think everyone can go up if we all keep our heads on the straight and narrow and keep our feet firmly on the ground," he said after Tuesday's 2-1 win at Anfield led to a 6-2 aggregate win.
Emmanuel-Thomas, who has been captain of Arsenal's youth team since he was 16, has already had a taste of the Premier League, watching from the bench in Arsenal's 3-0 win over Portsmouth on 2 May.
"It's very different, you prepare for the game differently," he said of that experience. "It's much more focused because three points mean a lot to them. It's very different from there to the reserves."
Arsenal won at Anfield with a first-half goal from Sanchez Watt and an own-goal from Daniel Ayala in the 70th minute.
"After the second goal, their heads sort of dropped," Emmanuel-Thomas said. "I think it was a great time to score."
"It's a great experience," he added. "The atmosphere was perfect today and it has been for the whole competition."
Liverpool: 1 Dean Bouzanis, 2 Steven Irwin, 3 Jack Robinson (16 Karl Clair, 83), 4 Daniel Ayala, 5 Joe Kennedy (c ), 6 Andre Wisdom, 7 David Amoo, 8 Christopher Buchtmann, 9 Lauri Dalla Valle, 10 Tom Ince, 11 Alexander Kacaniklic (12 Nathan Ecclestone, 46)
Substitutes not used: 13 Deale Chamberlain, 14 Alexander Cooper, 15 Michael Roberts,
Arsenal: 1 James Shea, 2 Craig Eastmond, 3 Thomas Cruise, 4 Jack Wilshere, 5 Kyle Bartley, 6 Luke Ayling (Alexander Cooper, 83), 7 Henri Lansbury, 8 Franci Coquelin (15 Augzhan Ozyakup, 83), 9 Gilles Sunu (12 Rhys Murphy, 68), 10 Sanchez Watt, 11 Jay Emmanuel-Thomas (c ) (14 Conor Henderson, 83)
Substitutes not used: 13 Charlie Mann, 16 Cedric Evina
Referee: Lee Mason
Assistant referees: Matthew McLaughlin & Stuart Burt
Fourth official: Ian Smedley