Newcastle United’s under-21 head coach Peter Beardsley has praised Krystian Bielik, after the Polish star impressed against the north East side at the heart of the Arsenal defence.
The two youth sides met last week at the Emirates Stadium, with the home side coming out as 3-1 victors thanks to goals from Dan Crowley, Stephy Mavididi and Serge Gnabry. With a Bielik own goal incidentally the only positive of the night for Beardsley’s side.
Despite the own goal, the 18-year-old put in a mature performance alongside his regular central defensive partner in Julio Plegueuzuelo – an effort which was noted by Newcastle’s head man, as reported by the club’s official website.
Arsenal had three top players on the pitch, and I thought that Bielik, the centre back as an 18-year-old, was outstanding, so they’ve got a lot of good kids and they’re known for that.
To be fair to Steve Gatting (Arsenal Under-21s coach), he realised that ours in the main, apart from our two senior players, were very young. It was great experience for them. Even though they’ve lost, they’ll take a lot from it.
Bielik signed for Arsenal for less than £3m in January 2014 alongside Gabriel and has been an impressive starlet for the club, featuring in a deeper role than he is used to at the heart of the defence, although it’s likely that he will revert back to the centre of midfield when he reaches first-team prominence.
