Adam Birchall credited his side’s mentality and character to comeback and win 2-1 against Fulham, but acknowledged that there is still room for improvement.
Goals from Louis Zecevic John, and Max Dowman turned the game around after we fell behind early on.
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U18s report: Arsenal 2-1 Fulham](https://www.arsenal.com/fixture/under-18/2025-Apr-01/under-18-2-1-fulham-u18-match-report?utm_source=arsenaldotcom&utm_medium=embedded-article&utm_campaign=news)
Birchall said, “I spoke to the lads after and told them that it wasn’t really our day today. I know we won the game, and credit to the players for finding a way to win, but they didn’t play as well as we wanted to—both with and without the ball,” Birchall admitted.
“We lost too many duels in and out of possession, and we need to show a lot more personality and energy than we did. But credit to the team for digging deep and getting the result.”
Going in a goal down at half-time, Birchall challenged his players to raise their standards and lean on the qualities they’ve been developing throughout the season.
“I just asked them to tap into the things they’ve already been working on. A big part of being a young player is learning how to be consistent, not just in passing but in mentality as well. We had a good chat at the break, and it wasn’t just a one-way conversation. The players were engaged, and they wanted to come out and put on a better performance.”
The introduction of substitutes Alex Marciniak and Maalik Hashi proved pivotal, injecting fresh energy into the game.
“The subs really changed the energy and changed the game for us,” Birchall noted.
Despite three consecutive wins, Birchall acknowledged the importance of building momentum and remained focused on continuous development.
“It’s great for the lads to experience winning runs and understand how to sustain them. It’s a big part of their learning, but the key question is: can we be consistent with it? Can we continue to develop? That’s the past now, and they’ve shown different qualities throughout this run. Today, they showed character to come back from 1-0 down, but we want to play better in the next game.
“Between now and the end of the season, we need to be more together. At times today, we played as individuals rather than as a unit. I also want us to keep improving our technique, pushing ourselves, and working towards our dreams.”
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