There is no good way to say “I told you so” but, I told you so. Although I anticipated he’d do so in his preferred position of RB, Kalulu is a starter already. Lyon wasn’t joking when they said the position was going to be his this season had he stayed. He’s ready, and he looks like he was born that way.
When you evaluate a young player you’re looking for a lot of things depending on their position on the field; technique, physical gifts, mentality, and lastly understanding of tactics. As a RB I was expecting Kalulu to be this physical specimen wingback with a great attacking qualities, but when I started watching some of his highlights I only saw somewhat average attacking talent. It made me question why Lyon was so upset in letting him go for nothing, so I kept watching and looking to see what I was missing. Then I saw it- in his eyes, in his face. Mentalita is a bit harder to notice in videos that only show a players best 15 seconds of action over and over, but you can see it.
The guy is unflappable, he’s a grown man at 20, and also quite fast, and seemingly made out of stone.
I think its still early, and he has much to learn yet, so I’m still waiting to see how he develops and trying to remain calm. Then I remember only 2 matches ago he committed an error on one end of the pitch- allowing Destro to score, but had the focus to go to the other end of the field and score to rescue the point. At 20, in his 3rd professional game ever.
He’s been consistently one of our most dangerous threats on set-pieces as well as one of the better defenders when facing them. He’s always present and steps up, doesn’t hide from the match, doesn’t get intimidated or shaken, even after making a mistake. Can somebody please find the gif of him jumping a foot higher than 6’4” Muriqi late in the game today? Thanks. And, I told you so.