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Ampadu in Wales squad

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Pobbop

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Apparently we had a player that played 16 games for us, that had earlier been a Welsh World Cup player that was actually placed 23rd in the Baloon d'or in 1959, had no idea about this until I played a sporcle quiz about 20 minutes ago.

Anyway well done Ethan lad, come a long way since I saw you in Lidls quite frequently.
 

tom_ecfc

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Apparently we had a player that played 16 games for us, that had earlier been a Welsh World Cup player that was actually placed 23rd in the Baloon d'or in 1959, had no idea about this until I played a sporcle quiz about 20 minutes ago.
Kenneth Jones? - https://grecianarchive.exeter.ac.uk/items/show/1787
 

Colesman Ballz

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My guess would be Derrick Sullivan. :unsure:
 

tom_ecfc

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Colesman Ballz

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Reading that, Sullivan made 44 appearances for us which may rule him out, equally though (well sort of ! ) Jones also made more than 16 appearances, although in his case the Archive is suggesting 17 ! You may yet triumph by 'a short head' ! :)
 

tom_ecfc

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Reading that, Sullivan made 44 appearances for us which may rule him out, equally though (well sort of ! ) Jones also made more than 16 appearances, although in his case the Archive is suggesting 17 ! You may yet triumph by 'a short head' ! :)
I have a feeling the quiz maybe wrong on appearances and you are indeed correct 🤔
 

DawlishBouy

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Sullivan played for Wales in the 1958 World Cup finals. Jones was in the squad but didn't play a game.
 

Pobbop

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Was Ken Jones, Wiki said 16 appearances.
 

arthur

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Can you copy and paste the article?

Ethan Ampadu made a good early impression at Chelsea. The coaches had just called time on a training session when one player took a last shot at goal. The defender darted across and dived to head the ball clear off the line and Antonio Conte, then the head coach, took note of his commitment and enthusiasm.

Ampadu was just 16 at the time. A few weeks earlier he had made the move to West London from Exeter City, after playing only 13 times in League Two. He made seven appearances under Conte in that 2017-18 season and hoped to build on that in the following campaign but the Italian was dismissed and Ampadu made the first of his four loan moves so far, joining RB Leipzig in Germany. The next year, he moved to Sheffield United, and has since had two spells in Serie A — at Venezia and, this season, at Spezia.

Now 22, it might seem that Ampadu has not put down roots anywhere, when in fact he made a conscious decision to move around to learn varied styles, tactics and environments before playing again for Chelsea.

Leipzig taught him about tactics, shape and working as a team. He got minutes and developed physically at Sheffield United, who were relegated. In Italy, he has learnt about the finer details of tactics, game-management and playing in several positions including sweeper, right back and midfield, where he began his career. Last summer, Ampadu took a call from Luca Gotti — a former assistant to Sarri, who wanted him to join Spezia — having been told he was not in Thomas Tuchel’s plans at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s head coach at the time had called eight players into a room, including Ampadu, Emerson and Billy Gilmour, and told them that they would be fighting for a place in the 20-man matchday squad, let alone the first team.

Tuchel named him on the bench for three of their five league matches in August and Chelsea wanted Ampadu to stay as the club saw him as the most natural understudy to Thiago Silva at centre back. But Ampadu knew that he needed to play to ensure he could do well for Wales at the World Cup finals.

“Being in Italy has benefited me a lot, playing against very good players and teams, and that has been a challenge that has massively helped me improve,” Ampadu said. “I feel I am adapting well. Last season I built some good momentum and have carried it on.”

He has quickly racked up 37 caps for Wales, mainly playing as a third centre back where the manager, Rob Page, likes to use his composure on the ball. But Ampadu may move into midfield if Joe Allen, who did not train fully yesterday, does not recover from a hamstring injury to play against United States in their first group B match on Monday. That would potentially pit Ampadu against Tyler Adams, the combative Leeds United midfielder, who was one of his closest friends at Leipzig.

Adams has one red and three yellow cards this season while Ampadu has been trying to improve that area of his game, after he was shown 13 yellow and one red card in 30 appearances last season.

Ampadu has spent time with coaches on his tackling, reviewing his decision-making and going into matches with the mindset of not picking up a card. He has three bookings in 11 matches for Spezia this season..

“I don’t think I can take that aggression out of my game, it is just trying to be a bit cleverer,” he said. “If the referees like to give more yellow cards, I have to find ways of not picking them up. Sometimes late in the game you can’t be as aggressive as you like. It is dealing with that and adapting. I feel like I am still as aggressive as last year.”

In his absence through suspension, Wales lost 4-0 to Denmark in the round of 16 at Euro 2020 last year. He had been sent off for a dangerous challenge on Italy’s Federico Bernardeschi in the last group game.

“It was devastating, in the moment you feel like you have let the team down, which isn’t a good feeling,” he said. “The boys were there to pick me up after. It was my first major tournament and an amazing experience as a whole.”

Ampadu became Exeter’s youngest player aged 15 years, 10 months and 26 days, and captained Wales to the 2015 Victory Shield, an under-16 tournament for the home nations, before getting his first taste of the senior training camp aged 16, before a World Cup qualifier away to Serbia in June 2017.

Although he was named in the squad, he had to withdraw to sit his geography GCSE. Five years on, he faces an altogether different examination. “We want to put our stamp on the game against the USA to show what we can do,” he said. “No matter what team we play, no one is here to draw or lose. We are here to show how good Wales as a nation can be.”

Asked who he wanted to win the World Cup if not Wales he said: “No one. We are in it to compete and we are going to back ourselves.”
 

iscalad

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Ethan Ampadu made a good early impression at Chelsea. The coaches had just called time on a training session when one player took a last shot at goal. The defender darted across and dived to head the ball clear off the line and Antonio Conte, then the head coach, took note of his commitment and enthusiasm.

Ampadu was just 16 at the time. A few weeks earlier he had made the move to West London from Exeter City, after playing only 13 times in League Two. He made seven appearances under Conte in that 2017-18 season and hoped to build on that in the following campaign but the Italian was dismissed and Ampadu made the first of his four loan moves so far, joining RB Leipzig in Germany. The next year, he moved to Sheffield United, and has since had two spells in Serie A — at Venezia and, this season, at Spezia.

Now 22, it might seem that Ampadu has not put down roots anywhere, when in fact he made a conscious decision to move around to learn varied styles, tactics and environments before playing again for Chelsea.

Leipzig taught him about tactics, shape and working as a team. He got minutes and developed physically at Sheffield United, who were relegated. In Italy, he has learnt about the finer details of tactics, game-management and playing in several positions including sweeper, right back and midfield, where he began his career. Last summer, Ampadu took a call from Luca Gotti — a former assistant to Sarri, who wanted him to join Spezia — having been told he was not in Thomas Tuchel’s plans at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea’s head coach at the time had called eight players into a room, including Ampadu, Emerson and Billy Gilmour, and told them that they would be fighting for a place in the 20-man matchday squad, let alone the first team.

Tuchel named him on the bench for three of their five league matches in August and Chelsea wanted Ampadu to stay as the club saw him as the most natural understudy to Thiago Silva at centre back. But Ampadu knew that he needed to play to ensure he could do well for Wales at the World Cup finals.

“Being in Italy has benefited me a lot, playing against very good players and teams, and that has been a challenge that has massively helped me improve,” Ampadu said. “I feel I am adapting well. Last season I built some good momentum and have carried it on.”

He has quickly racked up 37 caps for Wales, mainly playing as a third centre back where the manager, Rob Page, likes to use his composure on the ball. But Ampadu may move into midfield if Joe Allen, who did not train fully yesterday, does not recover from a hamstring injury to play against United States in their first group B match on Monday. That would potentially pit Ampadu against Tyler Adams, the combative Leeds United midfielder, who was one of his closest friends at Leipzig.

Adams has one red and three yellow cards this season while Ampadu has been trying to improve that area of his game, after he was shown 13 yellow and one red card in 30 appearances last season.

Ampadu has spent time with coaches on his tackling, reviewing his decision-making and going into matches with the mindset of not picking up a card. He has three bookings in 11 matches for Spezia this season..

“I don’t think I can take that aggression out of my game, it is just trying to be a bit cleverer,” he said. “If the referees like to give more yellow cards, I have to find ways of not picking them up. Sometimes late in the game you can’t be as aggressive as you like. It is dealing with that and adapting. I feel like I am still as aggressive as last year.”

In his absence through suspension, Wales lost 4-0 to Denmark in the round of 16 at Euro 2020 last year. He had been sent off for a dangerous challenge on Italy’s Federico Bernardeschi in the last group game.

“It was devastating, in the moment you feel like you have let the team down, which isn’t a good feeling,” he said. “The boys were there to pick me up after. It was my first major tournament and an amazing experience as a whole.”

Ampadu became Exeter’s youngest player aged 15 years, 10 months and 26 days, and captained Wales to the 2015 Victory Shield, an under-16 tournament for the home nations, before getting his first taste of the senior training camp aged 16, before a World Cup qualifier away to Serbia in June 2017.

Although he was named in the squad, he had to withdraw to sit his geography GCSE. Five years on, he faces an altogether different examination. “We want to put our stamp on the game against the USA to show what we can do,” he said. “No matter what team we play, no one is here to draw or lose. We are here to show how good Wales as a nation can be.”

Asked who he wanted to win the World Cup if not Wales he said: “No one. We are in it to compete and we are going to back ourselves.”
Thank you. A good read.
 
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