Cohen Bramall has admitted that he faces a “big challenge” in adapting to the pace of top flight football after making his first appearance for Arsenal Under-23s.
The January signing, for whom Arsenal paid Hednesford Town £40,000 earlier this month, completed 83 minutes of a 3-1 Premier League 2 win over Southampton U-23s on Monday, starting in his familiar left-back role.
Bramall arrived at Arsenal with a reputation for explosive pace, his then Hednesford manager Liam McDonald called him “lightning quick”, and his 100m time of 10.9 seconds compares favourably with the likes of Hector Bellerin and Theo Walcott.
Yet his own pace has not helped prepare him for the speed of play even at the Premier League’s youth levels, as he admitted after the win at Staplewood.
Cohen Bramall makes first Arsenal appearance with Under-23s
“It was so fast… it was hard to get used to,” he told Arsenal Player. “I just need to do well now, keep training and keep getting better and better. Hopefully, I can get to where I need to be in the future.
“It’ll be a big challenge, because from Hednesford in the league I played in, it was pretty slow and I had a lot more time on the ball than I did here. It was fast and I need to be better and think quicker on the ball.
“I think in the next game that I play, I’ll be a lot more confident. I can trust my team-mates more and just hopefully get to know the players a lot better.
“It was amazing. I’m just happy that in my first game for Arsenal that we got the three points really.”
Bramall is expected to remain with Steve Gatting’s U23 squad until the end of the season at least, where he will compete with Marc Bola for a starting slot.
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