I hope the ball goes near him today so I can tackle him
Meet Shrews star who beat rejection and depression to face his former boss
ARISTOTE NSIALA has experienced plenty that life can summon since being scared by the oldschool approach of David Moyes at Everton, and while trepidation remains ahead of a reunion it is clear Shrewsbury Town have a huge asset in their battle to deal West Ham an FA Cup upset.
Physically that is the case. Centreback Nsiala stands 6ft 4in and smiles broadly when revealing a bet over whether he or Andy Carroll will end up with a black eye.
Bigger though, is Nsiala’s personality. It shines through during an interview that touches on the setbacks he has suffered since his introduction to elite football at Everton’s academy. Moyes was manager for all of Nsiala’s time at the club but the 25-year-old is not expecting a meeting of old friends today. ‘I know him well but I don’t think he knows me!’ laughs Nsiala. ‘He’s a bit old-school, a tough man. When I walked past him I used to look the other way because I was that scared. I hope the ball goes near him so I can slide-tackle him! Then he’ll know who I am!’
There were only two times Nsiala can remember being spoken to by Moyes. One when he was released in 2012 — ‘he said I needed to get out and get more games’ — and the other when he forgot his manners. ‘It was me and Shane Duffy at lunch and we didn’t say thank you to the dinner lady and she wasn’t happy. It got back to him and he told us off.’
Forgetfulness cost Nsiala again when he came close to making his debut in 2009. ‘I was on the bench,’ he says. ‘I got called, but didn’t have any shinpads and I was that nervous I took too long, so Steve Round (then Moyes’ assistant) told Shkodran Mustafi to go on instead. I missed my chance. It never happened.’
Nsiala had a tough time after leaving Everton. ‘I don’t think people understand what being released by a Premier League club is like,’ he says. ‘And my dad got really ill. He was in hospital for a while and paralysed from the waist down because a tumour in his spine overgrew. It took a lot out of my family.
‘He’s still in a wheelchair but he’s happier now,’ adds Nsiala, who moved from Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, to Paris aged one, then Toxteth at 11. ‘Back then it made me a bit angry all of the time. I was getting a lot of yellow cards and it messed with my head.’
Nsiala had spells at Macclesfield Town and Accrington Stanley but realised he needed to step back. ‘I took a year out,’ he says. ‘I don’t know if it was depression, but I used to get up at about half 12, sit on the end of the bed, and think, “What am I doing?” This happened every day. Then after a year my mum said I might as well give it another go.
‘I went for interviews. I was applying for anything. One was a job printing T-shirts. Then I had a few trials — I went to Partick Thistle, to Belgium for a bit, then Vietnam.’
It was a curious time playing for TDCS Dong Thap and ended with a bump. ‘I went for food and stood up and banged my head on the light because it was such a low ceiling. Everyone laughed, because I was taller! They took pictures. I thought, “I’m done with this”. I booked a flight home the next day.’
Nsiala joined Southport and then first worked with manager Paul Hurst at Grimsby Town, before following him to Shrewsbury.
‘The gaffer got me to see someone about anger management,’ Nsiala says. ‘Something would happen on the pitch and I’d want to two-foot someone. The psychologist told me to press my finger with my thumb and think of a happy thought, say my mum or dad. That worked wonders and I still use the techniques.’
He might need them when battling Carroll. ‘I’ve got a bet with our head physio that I can hold myself against him,’ Nsiala says. ‘If I don’t get a black eye, if he doesn’t score, and if I win more headers, I win £100!’