EXCLUSIVE Q&A with West Ham’s next star

Hello again people, I hope you enjoyed my last article if you managed to read it!  This time around though I would like to look at the generally good feel around the club this season and the under 18’s and I am pleased to say I have had the pleasure of having a Q&A session with our new under 18’s star Nathan Mavila.

 

For those of you who are unsure who this young man is here is a brief insight into the player: He was born in Brixton and as a youngster played for a team called Afewee Urban along with our other young player Leo Chambers. The versatile youngster was then scouted in 2007 by Football League side Wycombe Wanderers where he spent 5 years until moving in the summer of 2012 to the claret and blue of West Ham United. Since then he has played 6 times for the under 18’s with 4 starts and 2 subs, most notably in the 4-0 win over West Brom in which he scored his first Hammers goal. Here is the interview.

Jordan French (JF) : How are you finding it at the club since your move in the summer?

Nathan Mavila (NM) : I’m really enjoying it. I thank the players and staff for helping me settle in.

JF : As a fan, there is a great feel to the club this season overall, is that the same as a player for the club?

NM : Yeah, there has been a really positive vibe around the training ground. I think this will be a good season for all ages including the first team.

JF : I’ve heard the staff like to mix the players up in training a lot, whats it like showing off your skills to the first team players?

NM : The mix has been really good. And you’d feel really nervous but the first team players are nice lads towards the younger lot training with them.

JF : We’ve had a great start this season, 8th in the Premier League, 1st in the under 21’s and 4th in the under 18’s, the players must be confident to keep up and improve on this already great season?

NM : Yes, the 1st team are doing really well and the 21’s and 18’s are doing well too. The under 18’s are hoping to do even better and get in to the elite group, which consists of teams that came 1st and 2nd in every group.

JF : What has been the stand out moment for you this season?

NM : So far it has got to be playing really well against West Brom.

JF : Do you have any personal aims or goals for yourself this season?

NM : To score and assist in games as much as I can and also push on to the development squad.

JF : You can play anywhere down the left side, do you have a favourite position?

NM : Left midfield

JF : How would you describe yourself as a player?

NM : I think I’m a versatile, athletic, skillful, quick and direct player.

JF : Is there any players or people who have inspired you to play the game?

NM : The people I grew up with and the area I was brought up in were really into football and they really inspired me to get involved.

JF : Last question, if you could choose one player, past or present, to play alongside for 90 minutes, who would it be?

NM : It has to be Ashley Cole. He is a hardworking, reliable and consistent player.

 

What we see here and going by interviews by many players at the club is the great feeling around the whole club this season from the training ground, on the pitch and all the way to the fans at home and away games. But we most notably see a very promising youngster at our club, a player who is quick and determined, likes to get forward, has an eye for goal and with the help of our coaches a player who in my mind will be a first team regular battling away with Dan Potts and Matt Jarvis for places down the left in the not so distant future!

 

Well, isn’t it an amazing feeling being a fan of this history packed club right now? The fans are happy, the players and staff are happy plus in all levels were playing such good football it’s hard to complain about anything really, it seems that David Gold and David Sullivan have got the ball rolling to kick start this teams rise to the top like they said would happen, all i can say is keep it up and please please do not hire Avram Grant again!

 

So my fellow fans, it is a few years down the line, we are a team fighting to get into a European place and some of our first team players have age catching up on them, “oh dear! What will happen now?” I hear you say, well have no fear my fellow hammers as our academy have some future stars within the ranks! I am however unable to name all of them and give a reason why they will be big players in the future as you would all be reading for so long the players would have retired by the time you finished, so just click onto the clubs website and have a look through the academy and development squad sections and keep an eye on their progress because honestly, who doesn’t get excited at trying to find the next world star from the famous Academy Of Football? There is a lot of promising players so if anybody has been keeping an eye on anybody in particular please comment so that others can look out for them as the youth system doesn’t get enough attention in my eyes.

 

So onto our under 18’s, they have a good chance at making it into the Elite group this season which I for one am confident they will, as Nathan pointed out in the interview the top 2 teams in each group go through to the Elite group and with us being in 4th, 1 point behind Arsenal in 3rd, 4 points behind Reading in 2nd and 9 points behind Bolton at the peak it is still anybody’s game, but with this confidence around the club, the staff mixing the players up in training giving the much needed experience to the raw talent at our younger levels, I think that will give the boys in claret and blue the edge over the other teams around them and go for some silverware!

 

Well a big thank you to Nathan Mavila for taking some time to answer them questions, you can find him on twitter at @N_Mavila as well as a lot of our younger players so please follow him and the other players to show your support to the clubs future stars!

Thank you very much for reading, take care and once again COYI!