James Musa (Fort Wayne | USA)

He was at Agincourt ?

Longshot?

Longbow.  As in drawing a long bow. Idiom.

That's not nice calling chocnut an Idiom.

Seriously, this James Musa has the skill, natural talent and the able to read the game. Now whether he has the mentality and the physical toughness to cope with the professional environment, is another question. At a glance, he has the physical statute to start with. I think we will see a lot more of him in the coming years.

Put it this way, he should contribute better than Ferrante or Elrich has for the club. I can't say he has the x-factor until he has a match at A-League level to prove otherwise. But whether he is used as a central defender or as a central midfielder of sorts by the club, he doesn't seem to be the give up kind.

If he is successful at the club such that he may get regular starts in the future then we have an interesting midfield. I like to think that in the four years time we are able to strengthen the AWs/nix midfield and it is great to see the likes of Musa and Rojas coming through the ranks right now.AllWhitebelievr2010-06-01 19:23:50

I've heard from two football players the same age as him that they were very very surprised he's been signed and didn't rate him at all. Hope he proves them wrong! with Reid and Smith we have a plenty of potential in defence for NZ, hopefully Musa can add to that.

I think there will be a few surprised faces in the Manawatu. As I have mentioned previously, I was playing against him last year in Mid central Manawatu league. That was 2 or 3 below central league. Surely there are people playing at higher levels with more to offer?

He was with the club for 6 weeks last season so someone in the club obviously sees something.

Often when you put a player amongst better players they step up, not because they suddenly got better themselves.

Musa does the basics right and have a far better football vision than most. I don't know about other young footballers but what I briefly saw of him, he did everything in the game that had real football sense and not many players that I have seen has that sense at such a young age.

I can only imagine that other young footballers may have underestimate/not understood why Musa does what he does and only look for extraordinary skill/trick when the best option is simple football. He is composed on the ball and makes the right passing options and also able to accurately pass the ball to set up a phase of play. Playing against him is one thing, but if you look on the overall game, he does the simple, basic and effective things that most footballers struggle to do.

Not many youngsters stand out to me as he did. The fact that he understood what he was doing showed me that he had a mature football mind already.

It wasn't a surprise for me. I would have recommended Youngheart to trial him, if the Nix didn't take him on a Trial. However I later found out that some people in the Youngheart set up has already spotted him (before his Nix Trial) at the same game I was at and reached to the same conclusions as I did. Obviously Youngheart didn't have a look in when the Nix was looking at him.

The only reason he was playing at the level that most of his school mates who were in the team was able to cope with. Since I have previously played above that league I can safety say that he shouldn't have a problem making the grade up since he hardly makes a mistake and has good positioning.

People at a higher level and U21?? Maybe, but I haven't seen anyone that look good enough as he is.AllWhitebelievr2010-06-01 23:47:02

Agree with that.

At the lower league, he had to tell players where to go, way ahead of time and still was able to deliver the ball despite telling the opposition the same information. Not many players do that. It shows how he reads the game early. Now he will be at a higher level of football, he is going to be much better and also will learn a few more things along the way. He would be able to play his football with the same thinking but with less explaining and passing a quicker ball than before.

Even if he won't get too many games in the beginning, it will surely pay up for him just to train with the professionals. Being a young guy like him and having the chance for regular practice with better players will strenghten him, no doubt here. As long as he has the right attitude and his mind set at getting better as a player.

Well in AWB he already has a vocal fan club.

And me, the kid's staying with my family for a few weeks while he settles in and finds his feet.

Mum's from England, dads from Zimbabwe. In high school played the holding midfield role, however plays CB now.

Haven't seen him play yet, and can't get there tonight, but he's got a good attitude and has had a spell at Plymouth Argyle training with the Fallonator. (it's OK, I just slapped myself for saying that).

I still don't find it funny.
Stanley wont catch on.

Huh?  I don't think you understand what I implied by that.

hung like a?

Na more like that he is tall.  Apparently Gouldie love tall players.

He played at left back this evening and looked pretty good.  Raw, but good.

He's not tall. No more than 6"1.

That's 6 inches on you 

TJ bobsled free tonight,

He would certainly stand out in the U19 tournament that Gouldie spotted him.

As in Tony Jamieson? Bollox.

And it's only 6" when someone from your 5 aside team is cutting down my ankles!

Yup, there are only a few players that stand out to me over the years and they all have gone onto into the national squad. Hopefully I can maintain my 100% prediction record. [btw it's two out of two and hopefully it would be three out of three]. Admittedly, he is my youngest prediction (by one year) as well as my lowest league player, so it's all sweat and guts for me while I wait this time.

He should be ready for the next Olympics by then, unless he picks a professional contract beforehand which might break Olympic rules.

BELIEVE IT . . .

Olympic football is almost universally professional players.  All you need to be is U23 or one of the three over-age players.

...and he has a professional contract.  That's what the Phoenix are, a professional football club.
Hard News2010-06-03 15:33:20

And he'll be 19 at the 2012 London Olympics.  Pretty young for an U23 team.

Oh yeah, lol. I always get my time and space muddled. I was thinking about other stuff and had my wires crossed.

And James Musa will be number 12 this year.

Realistically going to get a single minute this season in the regular season?  I'd like to see him on the bench in at least a few games against weaker opposition so that if we're up, say, 3-0 with 15 to go we could bring him on.

If we don't sign some more players soon he'll be first man off the bench.

Just a word on young Musa ... I liked the look of him today.  Very composed for the most part (apart from a couple of nervous moments passing square across the back four) and looks a good prospect.  Not saying he'll play much, if at all, this season, but he'll certainly benefit from spending time around Durante, Sigmund and North and would also thrive in a reserve/youth team.

Agree entirely LF1.  Had some doubts about him based on what had been said but every time I've seen him including the games out at Porirua he's just looked so calm and well -organised.  Hugely impressed.  Kudos to Gouldy and his talent spotting in this case I believe.

"Liked Musa. Seems to have a good football brain on him, and a pretty decent touch. Defended well, but wasn't really tested by any stretch of imagination.

Probably too lightweight for the A-league atm, but some good potential there."


My comments after the first time I saw Musa play, against Stop Out, posted the day after that game on 3 June.

EG, you are a man ahead of his time.  In this case, 55 days ahead of his time.