Andries Jonker hailed Chris Willock’s potential after his man-of-the-match performance against Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.
The tricky midfielder beat three defenders to score a stunning solo goal in the under-19s’ Youth League opener, before he was brought down in the box in the second half, allowing Ben Sheaf to score from the spot.
Willock received a standing ovation from the home fans when he was substituted in the 77th minute, and Jonker was also keen to praise the 17-year-old.
"We know he’s a very, very talented player who can decide a match"
Andries Jonker
“We have high expectations of Chris,” he told Arsenal Player. “We know he’s a very, very talented player who can decide a match. He did that but he has to develop as well.
“We have a lot of creative offensive players and we also have smart players like Ben who have a lot of understanding of the game. He stabilises the team and help us keep the ball. In these kinds of situations when he can get a penalty, he can keep a cool head, finish the penalty and then it’s done.
“I have a lot of confidence in the potential we have already. We didn’t need this game to tell me that, but it confirms that we have got a good group. We agreed that we would focus on the next match straight away and the next match is Olympiacos at home. That’s the one to win.”
Chris Willock opens the scoring
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