Aston Villa supporter and analyst Stephen Hickingbotham from @VillaAnalytics has given his thoughts on Carney Chukwuemeka following his recent performances for the club.
The 18-year-old has been making steady progress as part of the first team at Villa Park during the past couple of months. He made a few brief appearances in the Premier League last term, and was trusted with his first Premier League start under former boss Dean Smith back in August, on top of playing a few times in their Carabao Cup campaign.
He took another step forward in his progression at the club in their recent win against Norwich City in the Premier League, as he bagged the assist for Ollie Watkins’ goal, his first for the club at senior level, to seal all three points for Steven Gerrard’s men.
And speaking about his performances on the Claret and Blue podcast, Hickingbotham, whilst comparing him to a rather big name in world football, felt that his progression in the first team might offer hope to some of the other young talents coming through at the club.
He said: “I think the world of Carney, every time I’ve watched him for the youth team, I think he’s been phenomenal. He reminds me so much of Paul Pogba when he was back at Juventus – the way he carries the ball, the confidence he plays with. It was so good to see him get the assist, it was really, really impressive stuff.
“The academy, the fact that they’re stepping up to the first team – because we’ve got so many promising talents, but it’s really good to see some starting to get involved and actually get involved in a positive way, rather than just being there.”
TIF Thoughts on Stephen Hickingbotham’s comments about Carney Chukwuemeka at Aston Villa…
Will Carney Chukwuemeka have a big future at Villa?
Yes
No
Hickingbotham’s comparison with Paul Pogba might be a bit far-fetched considering how raw Chukwuemeka still is when it comes to first-team football, although if he is able to put up numbers similar to the Frenchman when he was in Turin, then Villa could certainly be onto a winner.
It will be interesting to see when these brief cameos start to turn into longer spells off the bench and then possibly into a run in the starting XI, because that will be a real test to see how he is developing.
It’s all well and good making an impression in the dying minutes of games when the opposition are tired and you’re on fresh legs, but to do that regularly for 90 minutes is a different challenge altogether.
Although, Hickingbotham is right when it comes to his assessment of the Villa academy, because the more that he does play, the more hope it gives to the youngsters coming through that they might get a game under Gerrard, who it appears doesn’t seem to be hesitant on the idea of giving youngsters a go if he thinks they are good enough like Chukwuemeka.
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