Arsenal under-18 manager Jack Wilshere couldn't hide his frustration after his team was put to the sword by West Ham in the FA Youth Cup final.
Wilshere's young squad, which contained several players who have made matchday squads for the first team, beat Manchester City in the semis to set up a home final against Kevin Keen's Hammers. The North London side took an early lead through Omari Benjamin, only for their opponents to hit back with five goals in a comprehensive win.
Former Arsenal midfielder Wilshere, who also played for West Ham later in his career, was trolled with "sacked in the morning" chants by the visiting fans. After the game, the 31-year-old made clear how he felt about the humbling reverse.
“It’s difficult at the moment to analyse the run,” Wilshere told the media after the game. “I’ve done that as we’ve gone through the rounds and the boys have been exceptional. I said that to them after.
“Yes, there are big lessons for the boys tonight and it’s important that they take them but they should be proud of themselves as well. They’ve given me, the staff, themselves some unbelievable memories, some moments in football that don’t happen all the time.
"When they happen, you have to take them in because you have moments like this in football where it’s devastating. The boys are on the floor in the dressing room but that’s football and we have to learn from it.”
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When asked about his own personal development as a coach during his first season in the role, Wilshere added: “It’s difficult to analyse that right now because my overriding feeling is devastation, really.
“Not really for myself - a little bit for myself - but more for the boys because I felt like they’ve been so good and then when you play in a final and you lose 5-1 and it’s at home it can affect you. It looks bad, right?”
Despite the result, Arsenal did come in for some praise from their opponents. Keen's side scored 23 goals en route to the cup, including a 6-1 victory over Southampton in the semis.
“I would just like to congratulate Arsenal on getting to the final, too," Hammers captain Gideon Kodua, who scored in the quarters, semis and final, told club media.
"I think they controlled the game really well, especially in the second half, but we nicked out goals and changed the momentum.”
Kodua scored the pick of West Ham's goals, making it 3-1 after efforts from George Earthy and Callum Marshall cancelled out Arsenal's early lead. Kaelan Casey made it four in the final 15 minutes, before Josh Briggs rounded off the scoring.
“Arsenal played some good football, but they just couldn’t break us down," said Marshall, who joined West Ham in 2022 after making his senior debut for previous club Linfield as a 16-year-old. "We kept working until the very end and in this team Kev [Keen] says that if you don’t work hard, you’re not going to go anywhere, so I don’t there was anyone on that pitch that didn’t work their socks off for the team.”
