Horseman on Olympiacos and life at Arsenal | Interview | News

David Horseman has quickly settled into his coaching role with our academy and is looking forward to taking charge of his first UEFA Youth League game against Olympiacos on Wednesday.

Horseman joined the club just over two weeks ago, and will be taking charge of our under-21s for their Vertu Trophy matches as well as our under-19s UEFA Youth League games.

Having been on the coaching staff for two Premier League 2 games and tasted victory in his first Vertu Trophy game in charge against Newport, Horseman is enjoying being part of the academy team.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind, obviously I came straight in, I think two days later we went to Bilbao to see the first (Youth League) game, and we’ve had four or five games since I’ve been in, in the two weeks.

“Everyone’s so welcoming, Albert (Stuivenberg) has been class, Max (Porter); the academy are doing some really, really good stuff so it’s been the best decision I made to join, that’s for sure.

“The detailed knowledge and care for the lads from the Academy, from Per (Mertesacker) down, that’s blew me away. I’ve been lucky, I’ve had some really good jobs, but never from the top have I felt so supported so early on, so that’s made me feel at home.

“I’m really proud to be at Arsenal and to lead the team and with all the staff, to try and give the players, because it’s all about the players and not really about me, to give them the best chance of having good careers in the game.”

Our Youth League campaign began in Bilbao three weeks ago, with a 3-1 defeat to Athletic Club. Despite a tough start to the league phase, Horseman is confident that our under-19s have taken valuable learnings from our opening game.

“I think we grew, we got better after half-time. We had a really good period where we scored and probably should have scored again and the game does look different then.

“Since then, there’s been some really good work done. I think the boys are in much better condition because obviously we had some issues with that, so we’ve developed and grown from there.

“What you probably learn is that Bilbao and Olympiacos have an under-19s team; we don’t. We have under-18s and under-21s, so we all play the Arsenal way and we try to play as close to the first team as possible.

“The boys are not always in the same training group, so although that sounds probably not like a big deal, relationships are created over a period of time, you’ve got to look at how good the relationships are in our first team to see they’ve created them and they train them every day.”

A vastly experienced manager, Horseman has worked in each of the top four divisions of English football, but this will be his first taste of European football. As well as looking forward to the opportunity, Horseman stressed the importance of different experiences for our young gunners.

“These challenges will be technical, tactical, physical; Olympiacos are a really big, strong team and we’re not of that nature. We’re more athletic, I think, and technically we’re very good, so it just throws up different challenges to what you get in the Premier League 2.

“So what we’ve got at Arsenal is a real nice balance across where we play: EFL Trophy, Youth League, Premier League 2.”

Our under-21s have been on good form domestically, with the win away to Derby County last weekend making it three league wins in a row.

But Horseman feels that European competition will provide a sterner challenge for our young Gunners. 

“The boys get plenty of different challenges in the European games with the referees, with the heats, Bilbao was very warm where we played. It’s not stuff we have to deal with a huge amount once we get out of the Summer months in England!

“All those things put into the mix is just brilliant for players’ learning and I’m really looking forward to learning myself. This will be a big education for me this first year, hopefully, so I can help the players more in future years.

“It’s been like Christmas has come early for me, I love it. Very grateful, really appreciative of the opportunity and I’ve got to make sure I do a good job for Arsenal now.”

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