The Gunners lost in the UEFA Youth League to Inter Milan’s youngsters away from home. Maldini Kacurri was sent off for Arsenal as Inter won 4-1 on the day.
Much like the senior side, the youth team went down to the Italian giants, despite a spirited effort.
“I’m really conflicted,” Porter stated post-game.
“There are so many elements of our performance that were very, very good, however, Inter were a ruthless machine. What I mean by that is they had 11 shots and nine or 10 of them were on target. They make sure they work the keeper. I feel like we started the game too tentative. We told the boys that we respect every opponent but we don’t fear them, and I feel like we had a little bit of doubt in our play.
“Conceding early was tough but, after that, I felt like we responded. The second goal was really disappointing, getting caught out with a ball down the channel and then scoring against the keeper being out of position. That was really tough because I felt if we got into half-time after having that good response, we could’ve taken the game to them in the second half.
“I think we did that. We started incredibly, but we need to show that bravery when we’re losing from the start. I had a manager once who told me that it’s easy to show that bravery when you’ve got nothing to lose because you’re already losing, but actually to wrestle the momentum in the game and really take it to your opponent, that’s who we need to be as Arsenal and that’s what we’re trying to teach these players.
“In the events, the sending off was damaging. At 2-0, we felt we were in the game. We started the second half well but this is what this competition does. European football, different referees, different opponents and cultures - it all comes into play - but even then the players went until the end.
“We conceded two more goals however I think at that point they could have easily gone under their shells, but they didn’t. They went right to the end, which I’m proud of, but I leave here conflicted.”