Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
COHEN THE GIANTKILLER
Palace and Spurs conquered... now Bramall wants Colchester’s football fairytale to continue and a big gun in the quarters PALACE: BEATEN ON PENS SPURS: BEATEN ON PENS
COHEN BRAMALL is determined to continue his football fairytale with another Carabao Cup giantkilling.
Plucked from non-league Hednesford Town to sign for Arsenal, the 23-year-old is now resurrecting his career with Colchester.
They face Crawley Town in an all-league Two tie tonight, with a place in the quarter-finals and a potential showdown with one of the Premier League’s big boys the prize for the winners.
Colchester have already knocked out Crystal Palace and Tottenham and their run has given Bramall, who had two years at Arsenal, a taste for more upsets.
He said: “Everyone probably wants a big club in the draw but it’s possible now for us to reach the
quarter-finals, which would be a first for Colchester.
“We’ve had a fantastic run in the competition and, having been at Arsenal, I know what it means to beat Spurs. They took it seriously in the last round, they brought on Erik Lamela, Heung-min Son and Christian Eriksen and we still went through.
“That was a fantastic experience, a great atmosphere and we’d love to get through and get another big club in the quarter-finals.”
Bramall was a heartwarming rags-to-riches tale, as he was facing being made redundant from his part-time job at car makers Bentley when Arsenal snapped him up in 2017.
It was a brilliant story and yet ultimately the left-back did not make the Arsenal first team. A frustrating loan spell at Birmingham followed and the defender had to go to Colchester in the summer to get his career back on track.
But Bramall, who was born in Crewe, is an avid Gunners fan having learned and developed at the club while working with bigname players on a daily basis. He said: “Arsenal was such a great experience. It was amazing playing with Mesut Ozil, Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott, Hector Bellerin, the list goes on. It taught me so much.
“Arsenal taught me how to be more professional, the importance of recovery – you can’t fail to improve.
“I went from working at Bentley, my boss letting me leave early so I could go to train, to suddenly signing for
Arsenal. It was incredible. If you spend any time at Arsenal you become a fan. It was a sad day when I left.
“I’d learned so much from people like Freddie Ljungberg, who is a brilliant coach and Arsenal legend.
“When I left, my words were twisted when I spoke about Unai Emery because he is such a great coach. “He works you hard but when you think you’ve got nothing left, he’s the guy that gives you one more breath.
“I’ve got nothing but love for him and Arsenal.
“But I had to get out and play and Colchester has let me do that.
“When we’re at our best, I don’t think there’s anyone who can stop us in the division.
“We should be looking at getting through and reaching the play-offs.”