Town boss feels language barrier makes Makosso's impact at Luton even more impressive

Hatters boss Matt Bloomfield feels that defender Christ Makosso’s impressive displays since coming into the Luton first team are even more ‘admirable’ due to the youngster’s lack of English.

The 20-year-old Congolese international moved to Bedfordshire from Belgium second tier club side RWD Molenbeek back in January as the club’s first addition of a transfer window in which they ended up signing seven new players in total. With Makosso having never played in England before and being brought in very much as one for the future really by Town’s recruitment team, his grasp of the language used in the Luton dressing room was, as expected, very limited.

Catching the eye in a few U21 games, with Teden Mengi and Reece Burke both out, Kal Naismith and Mark McGuinness also absent, it meant Makosso was promoted to the bench for the derby day trip to fierce rivals Watford last month. On for Mads Andersen at the break, the Danish centre half struggling and having picked up a yellow card, the youngster took to the Championship with a real ease, his ability to read the game and use his undoubted pace to get himself out of trouble standing out, so much so that he was in the starting line-up for the 1-0 win over Portsmouth the next game and hasn’t come out of the XI since.

Wingback Izzy Jones, who has been playing just in front of Makosso on the right hand side, revealed that getting any instructions across to his team-mate has proved increasingly difficult, with the players even using Google Translate at times in the changing rooms to make their points to the young centre half. Asked if that language barrier made his impact since arriving that bit more impressive, Bloomfield said: “It definitely gives us challenges with getting information across to him.

"We’re all trying to pick up a little bit of French and he’s picking up his English. We try and translate as best we can, there’s not a huge amount of discussion down that right hand side because of it and that does make his performances all the more admirable, I absolutely believe that. He’s probably ahead of where we thought he might be right now in terms of his minutes on the pitch, but he’s come in and done fantastic.

"Athletically he’s really gifted, he defends his box really, really well and with him and Izzy we’ve got real pace down that side, so it probably does make it even more impressive. He’s a boy we think a lot of, but also we’ve got to be really careful with him. He’s a young player and we’ve got to make sure that if it’s the right time to bring him out, then we do it at the right opportunity, but at this moment in time he’s playing well so we’ll let him play.”

On just how it affects trying to get Makosso up to speed with the messages that Bloomfield and his coaching staff are trying to get across in training at the Brache, as they bid to climb out of relegation trouble this term, the manager continued: “The team meetings we’ll follow it up with Christ to make sure he understands what we’re trying to say.

"Thommo (Richard Thomas, assistant manager) and myself are trying to pick up some key words in French so he can understand exactly what we’re going after as it’s not always possible out on the grass to slow things down. It comes with repetition as well. He’s been in the building with us for a while now and we’ve been going after that repetition, so I think by doing also helps and just trying to get the messages across as clearly as we possibly can.”

Discussing how his own French was coming along, Bloomfield said: “It’s not great, I’m trying, but I wouldn’t suggest it’s great. Thommo’s got a few more words than me, but we’re trying to get that understanding as I want that rapport with all of the players. I think it’s really important for the coaching team and the management team to have that rapport with our players.

"We’re a group, it’s us together. With these challenges it’s not about separating and I’ve always been the same since I’ve been a manager in this position. I want to be close to the players. There’s obviously a line, but you want to have that rapport with them and I think it’s really important that we understand each other.”

For one of the first times of his short spell as Luton manager, Bloomfield has a virtually full complement of defenders to pick from when Town travel to Hull City tomorrow for what is the opening game of eight massive matches that will determine whether the Hatters stay up or not this term. With only Teden Mengi out as he continues to recover from knee surgery, although Amari’i Bell is a doubt, it means Makosso faces competition from Kal Naismith and Reece Burke for his position in the back three.

The boss was relieved to be in such a predicament, adding: “There’s been a few games where we’ve been a little bit short on numbers at the back and that’s how Christ’s opportunity came about if we’re being honest. It’s been through those opportunities that have not been taken elsewhere that Christ got his and he grabbed it. As we’ve said with Burkey we’ve got to be careful with him as he’s had a little while out, we can’t over expose him to too many minutes but he’s ready to compete.

"He’s been a key player for this football club and we expect him to be so again, Kal as well. He offers real experience, fantastic know-how. It was unfortunate he lost his place because of the sending off, but he’s chomping at the bit and he’s ready to go. It’s good to have that competition. I really believe that competition heightens performance, so it’s really important that we keep everyone on their toes.”