Willy Kambwala

Makes complete sense to be infuriated by shit like that. Not to sound dramatic but could easily have been a career ender. A broken ankle is tough to recover from for any professional but more importantly, at their age, missing a full year on the sidelines in their development could be the difference between making it at premier league level or not. Players like that kid who tried that shit, should honestly be banned for a good length of time as they have zero respect for another kids potential career.

Career ender, but also this are just young kids, imagine having to get surgery on your ankle or potentially having to live with a limp even if you are not a professional athlete...
That kids act stupid and get carried away is one thing, but as @Remember the geese pointed out no reaction from the referee, and guessing there is no review or sanctions post-game. When I see acts like that go unpunished in football, I'm not surprised players grow-up to "exaggerate" contact in the game.

I'm sure many of us that have watched enough football, have been left scratching our heads at some of the decision-making from refs. But whilst we look to educate and train good habits into academy players, I'm not sure the same seems to apply to refereeing.

It seems Kambwala walked it off and played on without much fuss, and that is to his credit. Hope it didn't swell-up and hurt too much after the adrenaline wore off.
 
Career ender, but also this are just young kids, imagine having to get surgery on your ankle or potentially having to live with a limp even if you are not a professional athlete...
That kids act stupid and get carried away is one thing, but as @Remember the geese pointed out no reaction from the referee, and guessing there is no review or sanctions post-game. When I see acts like that go unpunished in football, I'm not surprised players grow-up to "exaggerate" contact in the game.

I'm sure many of us that have watched enough football, have been left scratching our heads at some of the decision-making from refs. But whilst we look to educate and train good habits into academy players, I'm not sure the same seems to apply to refereeing.

It seems Kambwala walked it off and played on without much fuss, and that is to his credit. Hope it didn't swell-up and hurt too much after the adrenaline wore off.
Yeah, if the highlight reel we watched caught an up close of it, surely officials/coaches would also have been made aware of it. Hopefully, either his club of the officials did something.
 
Looks more physically imposing than Lindelof already :lol:. Give him a year with the under 21’s then look for a decent league 1 loan to get him some proper game time. Lads got a lot of promise about him. Be brilliant if we’re able to nurture and develop a decent level CB
 
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He seems to have a lot of quality on the ball, but also seems very slow and cumbersome, as in I'd expect Maguire to beat him over 5 yards.

Did he seem to have pace when he first joined?

Hopefully it's mostly a hangover from having missed so many games and it will improve again with time.
 
He seems to have a lot of quality on the ball, but also seems very slow and cumbersome, as in I'd expect Maguire to beat him over 5 yards.

Did he seem to have pace when he first joined?

Hopefully it's mostly a hangover from having missed so many games and it will improve again with time.

Pretty certain he's quite fast. This looked too easy for him though. Barely had to break a sweat all game.
 
He's a very quick CB and that's one of his strengths. And he showed a turn of pace in the game which is captured in the highlights posted above.
 
Hopefully he can outgrow his injury issues.
Feels like he has been fully fit for about 10 games since arrival 3 years ago..
 
From the very small sample size since he's joined the club, I feel he has the talent to make it with us. Injuries are a big problem though obviously.
 
Hasn’t he had a bit of a bad injury record since he’s been here? Hope that’s not a sign that he’s our new Bailly
 
Won't be surprised if he features in our upcoming games. Shaw and Lindelof can't play every game.
 
Won't be surprised if he features in our upcoming games. Shaw and Lindelof can't play every game.

I will be surprised if he gets any minutes. ETH is a fairly conservative manager as far as bedding in our academy kids -- and there aren't any easy matches from now till the Cup final. He will play Shaw & Lindelof till they cant ... and then it will be Macguire.
 
I will be surprised if he gets any minutes. ETH is a fairly conservative manager as far as bedding in our academy kids -- and there aren't any easy matches from now till the Cup final. He will play Shaw & Lindelof till they cant ... and then it will be Macguire.

That is exactly why I think Kambwala will get a chance. If we're throwing a game away, might as well do it by giving an 18 year old a chance to perform.
 
Won't be surprised if he features in our upcoming games. Shaw and Lindelof can't play every game.
He's only played in unos dos tres games since the winter break. He should be able to play all the remaining fixtures without issue.
 
That is exactly why I think Kambwala will get a chance. If we're throwing a game away, might as well do it by giving an 18 year old a chance to perform.

I agree but firstly ETH's not that big-balled. Secondly, there will be pressure to play Macguire to protect his transfer value in the summer. It would tank if an 18y.o is a preferred option to an England international.
 
I agree but firstly ETH's not that big-balled. Secondly, there will be pressure to play Macguire to protect his transfer value in the summer. It would tank if an 18y.o is a preferred option to an England international.

I truly cannot see how playing him is going to not decrease his transfer value at the moment...
 
We only have league games and the Fa Cup final. Our schedule is relaxed now and also there is Captain fantastic.
Agreed. I believe the idea is to get the kid ready for cameo roles in the last league game or two if the top 4 is confirmed before that. We have played quite a few academy kids in the very late parts of the season in the past when there were nothing more to play for.
 
Could he be Maguire's replacement, the young center to understudy Varane and replace him long term. Could save us money.
 
Could he be Maguire's replacement, the young center to understudy Varane and replace him long term. Could save us money.

Well he is very similar to Varane in terms of being injured more often than not. :p

Seriously though it’s very hard to say, considering he’s played a total of 1474 minutes in three seasons here. That’s approx. 16 full 90 minute matches.

So he’s got a lot of catching up to do. I wouldn’t even begin to make any predictions when it comes to first team football. Playing a full season in our U21s would be a start.
 
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Hasn’t he had a bit of a bad injury record since he’s been here? Hope that’s not a sign that he’s our new Bailly
Add him to the list of supposedly excellent "new Rio Ferdinand" defenders we've had come through the ranks like Axel, Mengi, etc who promise a lot then get injured and never heard of again.
 
Add him to the list of supposedly excellent "new Rio Ferdinand" defenders we've had come through the ranks like Axel, Mengi, etc who promise a lot then get injured and never heard of again.
Begs the question why we so often see these huge injury setbacks from so many of our young players, what are we doing with them? Willy has been out for ages since he came here, Mejia has been out injured for ages, Emeran had problems, Laird struggled a lot while still here, and many more. So many fairly promising young players that just mostly doing rehab.
Growing pains? Pushing them too hard?
 
Agreed. I believe the idea is to get the kid ready for cameo roles in the last league game or two if the top 4 is confirmed before that. We have played quite a few academy kids in the very late parts of the season in the past when there were nothing more to play for.

Pellestri says hello!
 
I will be surprised if he gets any minutes. ETH is a fairly conservative manager as far as bedding in our academy kids -- and there aren't any easy matches from now till the Cup final. He will play Shaw & Lindelof till they cant ... and then it will be Macguire.
Just stop
 
Begs the question why we so often see these huge injury setbacks from so many of our young players, what are we doing with them? Willy has been out for ages since he came here, Mejia has been out injured for ages, Emeran had problems, Laird struggled a lot while still here, and many more. So many fairly promising young players that just mostly doing rehab.
Growing pains? Pushing them too hard?
Growing pains associated with being busy sports athletes? These things are a science these days so I doubt we are pushing them beyond their limits. Remember the likes of giggs at the same age? Always killed with hamstring issues. Got it sorted and he went on to have a long career. They will get to the bottom of most of these issues too
 
Won't be surprised if he features in our upcoming games. Shaw and Lindelof can't play every game.

I saw his first U21 game this season and was really impressed — but you could tell that it was an adjustment for him to move up to that level. Looked very tired at the end etc. Was he healthy this summer? Think getting into tremendous shape this summer and then dominating the U21 next season would be great for him, and then possibly getting a cameo with the top team.
 
Hasn’t he had a bit of a bad injury record since he’s been here? Hope that’s not a sign that he’s our new Bailly

Not sure of the nature of the injuries but could it have been a bit similar to McTominay? If I recall he had a lot of pains and time out due to a growth spurt and looking at the size of Kambwala he may have gone through similar.