Michel-Ange Balikwisha

Outside his injuries, is he as bad as some are making out?

The injuries are a real concern, but the 180 on this thread from the first few pages is surprising.

 

I personally think he would do well here … more an inside forward type winger rather than someone who would stretch the game with pace though from what I’ve seen.

 

Pretty much every player has had an injury or 2..Nygren missed about 3 months of games 24/25 season with a knee injury but I dont recall any negatives about that as he seemed to have played well after that aswell?. Or maybe there was and I missed them.

 

With Kuhn going, Maeda going through the middle and Kyogo who would have that burst and cleverness to play offside....we were really dangerous on the break..

We need to replace some of that speed, particularly Kuhn's..

Balikwisha doesn't seem to have it..

 

The worst of the wingers we've been linked with, for me. Just looks proper one-paced, not great stats and padded with some penalties. Doesn't do it for me at all.

 

At about £4-4.5m I think he could be a good signing. I have been watching some highlights of games towards the end of last season to see if he comes up much when playing the better teams in the league.

The first highlights is Brugge (A) score 1-1 he scores the goal and takes it really well. More impressive is he literally is involved in nearly every good Antwerp attack and makes the right call when looking to find a team mate or time a run. Looks really intelligent in his play and also has the technique to play the pass, lay off etc. in this game he plays between the 10 position and right wing.



This game is away to Gent where Antwerp win 0-3. Not as much of his attacking play but credited with 2 assists. The first is a cracking strike from his team mate but the second is a good assist putting one on a plate. He actually saves his team two goals at corners with clearances off the line showing he is switched on defensively in dangerous situations.



Scores a goal and wins a penalty against Genk.



Overall it’s a limited sample but I think he looks an intelligent player, with strong on ball quality and a good work rate. He probably lacks a bit of top end acceleration and obviously there is the fitness issues. However, I am encouraged by him being effective against a decent level of opposition. He also got a goal vs USG and another vs Brugge but not watched those highlights yet.

Interestingly he looks far more involved when coming centrally or off the right in these highlights than he does when playing on the left. Therefore, I think he would be a versatile option that could play either wing or as a 10. Although he is right footed, he will use his left to cross when playing off the left so I don’t think he looks as one dimensional as a Palma and he isn’t that level of slow for a winger, more Jota I would say pace wise from what I can see.

 

See, based on these videos, I think he looks good, he's maybe not as rapid as Jansson or Orjasaeter, but he's definitely not slow.

Injuries would be a concern, which is why I hope we bring in another LW to compete, maybe ambrosino will cover there for the most part.

Think the clear thing from the articles linked is he wants to come here, which i think is always a good trait to have in anyone were after. No harm in convincing players to come but it's not a bad thing if they do want to join off the bat.

That's if we're even linked tbh, a lot of the recent links have been regurgitated.

 

No, he’s not. As Shelby said, he’s been the most consistent over the last 2/3 years and he ended the season at Antwerp on really good form, when he came back from injury.

I’m sure his record at Antwerp is quite impressive, too. I’m sure he was involved with a goal or an assist every 3 games or something. Sure it was like 150 games for Antwerp and a goal or assist in 45 of those.

 

A lot of his movement is spot on for the way we play, he can come inside, not too much wing play to see, but he does get across his man and get from his wing to both posts to score. I like this guy the more I see.

 

....and this is why he will probably go to Swansea or something for £900,000

 

You'd always want a pacey winger but with KT returning and us going back to a more traditional overlapping full back it's maybe not as necessary.

Same way that I think both Palma and Elyounoussi would have likely have done better here with a more traditional left back behind them.

Don't think Balikwisha is anywhere near as slow as either of them either

 

Nobody on this forum has watched him play a game. Their opinion is based off a 5 minute YouTube video most of the time.

Yamada’s a dud yet they’ll cream themselves over someone like Kvistgaarden, despite never having watched either.

 

Manager confirmed he is injured and thats why he wasn't training picked up a strain either that or manager talking *

 

If he’s injured again then definitely avoid. So many better options in the same price bracket and less injury prone.

 

Need to stay away from him. * always injured.

 

Another injury. Lol..

 

Manager said its a "classic preparation injury after pushing them hard for 3 days"

 

https://www.gva.be/sport/een-blik-o...ning-heb-ik-niet-zoveel-aan-jou/76807431.html


Geoffry Hairemans is struggling with his groin, and Michel-Ange Balikwisha trained separately on Wednesday. How are they doing?

They're struggling with classic preparation ailments. After three and a half weeks of inactivity, we've trained hard these past few days. I'd rather have these guys do something different for a day and get back on track, rather than pushing them to their limits.

 

Get this in the bin, no * way we should be looking at him with these injuries