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'My mum was crying':Tammy Abraham on Cardiff City defender's

Wed Mar 20, 2019 10:22 am

'My mum was crying' - Chelsea and Aston Villa star Tammy Abraham on Cardiff City defender's tackle
The on-loan Chelsea starlet was given a rude awakening to life in the Championship


By James Piercy Sports Editor

Bristol Live

Tammy Abraham is one of English football's most exciting young talents and the former Robins frontman admits his professional career was given a helping hand, or kick, from Cardiff City centre-back Sol Bamba.

Signed on loan by Bristol City head coach Lee Johnson in the summer of 2016, Abraham was a star for the Chelsea academy but so like so many teenagers coming through at Ashton Gate had to leave west London to sample first-team football.


Abraham admits he was "scared" on arriving as a fresh-faced 19-year-old at BS3, not used to the physicality of senior football, and one particular encounter with Bluesbirds' cult hero Bamba at the Cardiff City Stadium helped his development, albeit in a painful way.

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"So many times my mum was crying for me," Abraham said, as he prepares to play for England Under-21s against Poland at Ashton Gate on Thurday.

"There was one against Cardiff, it was Bamba. I just touched the ball and he came straight through me. I was like, 'whoa!'

"I was used to tackles, but not those kind of tackles.


"I was trying to pin him and all sorts but he was so strong. I just remember saying, 'listen I'm going to have to go to the gym or something', I can't hold him off.

"But you learn from those things, you have to use your strengths sometimes and it's not pivoting someone who's strong as him it's running in behind, dropping short into feet and all sorts.

"I remember my first feeling [arriving at City] I was scared but I said to myself, 'there's no point feeling scared, you're here now, you've done well last season scoring so many goals in the academy. Just go out there, have fun, score goals and do your best."


Abraham certainly did his best at Ashton Gate scoring 26 goals in 48 games in all competitions and collecting a number of individual awards including being named the club's Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season.

Unfortunately, City were unable to retain his services and Abraham earned a temporary move to Swansea City, then a Premier League side.

Expectation was high following his breakout campaign but Abraham struggled at the Liberty Stadium as the Swans' were unable to replicate the service he enjoyed as a Robin and were relegated into the Championship.

Just like that kick up the backside from Bamba, however, it was another step on the road to shaping him as a footballer.

"It was tough. But that's where you learn and you become a man quicker, he added.

"It's not just always going to be easy and winning games, you have to go through the downside as well.

"From the outside world it was like, 'Tammy's on loan so it won't really affect him' but wherever I'm at, that's where I put my heart.

"I'm always a person who's believed in myself and after the spell at Bristol City I said to myself, 'listen you can do it in men's football', so I've had to pick myself back up."

Now part of an Aston Villa side challenging City for the Championship play-off spots, Abraham is once again looking every inch the top-level striker and another crack at the Premier League, whether it be with Villa, Chelsea or anyone else.

Just like at Ashton Gate, when under the watch of Johnson he was constantly seeking self-improvement, Abraham is critical of his game and how he needs to develop to make that jump into a proven Premier League striker.



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Remarkably all 49 of his senior league goals at City, Chelsea, Swansea and Villa have been scored from inside the penalty area and the 21-year-old has studied Tottenham striker Harry Kane on how to become more of a presence outside, as well as inside, the box.

"I'm a person who looks at myself and after every game I like to reflect on my performance, not just the team; what I could have done right, what I should have done in the right areas. If the crosses are coming into the box, where I could have put myself. Little things like that," he said.


"That's one thing you always need as a player.

"For me, what I've learned is, I'm an in-and-around-the-box kind of finisher. One thing I need to work on, you look at the Harry Kanes, although he's absolutely ruthless inside the box he also scores goals outside the box.


"Chances to win games won't always come in the box, so that's one thing [I've got to do], positioning myself outside the box and obviously taking shots.

"There's always something you can work on. I've heard so many stories of players who have trained with Harry Kane. The best players, they're always the last one off the pitch, always working hard on the training pitch, working on this, working on that, and they put that into games.

"So for me, it's about following those footsteps and doing the same thing."
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