By Lloyd Webb
Tyrell Robinson has a few New Year’s resolutions.
The defender enjoyed a successful 2015 and impressed Steve Gatting enough to become a mainstay in his under-21 side after proving himself in the under-18s team. That was not the only change for Robinson; he also had to adapt to a new position at left back, having featured as a winger.
The 18-year-old knows he cannot rest on his laurels and has set himself goals for 2016.
"Alex Iwobi is a close friend so we talk about stuff. He has trained with the first team and has played, I’m inspired to do the same"
Tyrell Robinson
“At the moment, I’m working to get a bit better at left back as it would be a better path for me to be a left back at the club,” Robinson told Arsenal.com.
“I have adapted to it quite well as last year I had little spells at left back so I’m used to it. It is different at left back as you can see everything, you have the game in front of you.
“When you are left wing you have to be quicker on the ball but left back is good and it suits me. It is good to have two positions. I don’t mind if they play me left wing or left back.
“I have got the speed but I need to get stronger - especially if I’m going to play with older boys,” he continued. "When you are with the under-21s, people are more tactical about things and you have to go about things in a different way. You have to step up to the game.
“Krystian Bielik helps me out quite a lot as he plays next to me when I play left back. But I have learnt a lot from coaches too. Tafari Moore and Marc Bola also help me out.
“Alex Iwobi is a close friend so we talk about stuff. He has trained with the first team and has played, I’m inspired to do the same. If not this season, next season. He tells me stuff I need to improve on to get me over with the first team.”
Arsenal Under-21s travel to West Brom on Monday and Robinson believes it is important to go into the fixture with confidence.
“The boys are going to be looking forward to that game and getting another win. We will have to work on keeping the ball in the last 10 minutes of the game and just get tougher at the back.”
Copyright 2024 The Arsenal Football Club Limited. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source.
