Why is Bednarek back? And is he here to stay?
Why is Bednarek back? And is he here to stay?
A short bit on the return of Jan Boomerang.
At least once this season, it feels as if each of our centrebacks have taken a turn at being the best, or at least the favourite. Salisu was comfortably top boy before the season began. So when Bella-Kotchap’s exceptional start made him an early season darling, I felt Sali had been forgotten a bit unfairly. One of Nathan Jones’ last battles with the fans was over the exile of Duje Ćaleta-Car, for whom many were baying to be integrated, though this feeling seems to have softened. After Arsenal (H), even Lyanco was briefly a cult hero.
But nobody could have expected that last weekend, at the business-end of a relegation battle, unprompted by injuries, DCC, Sali and Lyanco would be sat on the bench, watching Jan Bednarek line up next to ABK.
At first, Bednarek’s return was a just mildly humiliating bodge-job. Jones wanted to recall him from Villa because he prefers to play three centrebacks and wanted five in the squad, and because he’d made it the core of his mission to make Saints more robust at the back. Bednarek was also unknown to Jones, and part of how new managers get a bounce is by trying to breathe new life into underutilised players. But why would Ruben Sellés, trying to reboot quite a Ralphy system, and to whom Bednarek’s strengths and limitations are well known, voluntarily start him ahead of Salisu, DCC and Lyanco?
Earlier, in the season, it was notable how much our build-up involved long balls from Bazunu. This was a hallmark criticism of Jones but was true of twilight Hassenhuttl too. So it was notable against Leicester that Saints drew boos and jeers from the home fans, because Bazunu repeatedly declined to release the ball quickly for a counter. Instead, he waited for the teams to reset, then rolled it to one of his centrebacks, who took up horizontal positions inside the penalty box. Sellés is trying to get Saints to relearn playing out from the back, and last Saturday they took their first baby steps.
I suspect, or at least hope, that like most of us Sellés believes Salisu is a better all-round centreback than Bednarek. He has incredible recovery speed and physicality, accompanied by good concentration, positional awareness and passing range. Basically a monster in all the areas Bednarek is weakest, particularly one-vs-ones and last ditch defending. But for all his flaws, Bednarek’s one genuine strength is that he has always been composed on the ball. By contrast, Salisu has had some notable clangers in this department (see Son’s goal, Tottenham (A) on opening day). I suspect Bednarek started at Leicester because he is deemed to be (marginally) our best centreback with the ball at his feet and under pressure, and this is what’s most important for Sellés right now as we reinvent our first-phase build-up. Lyanco is actually in with a shout here too, but while Sellés is pragmatic he’s not clinically insane.
As we witnessed on Saturday, this isn’t without risk. Southampton’s ball progression was as good as its been for a long time, and although this had a lot to do with Charly Alcaraz (and Lavia/Adams) the backline also need some credit. But it came at a cost. Banuzu produced two should-have-been fatal errors, one passing to Iheanacho out of defence, another flapping in busy box. The first is an indictment of our ability to play out like Sellés wants, and the second indicative of our weakness defending our own box. Historically Bednarek is not strong here. He had a pretty quiet game, and as expected was composed in possession, but Saints were torn wide open by Maddison’s deliveries, and for that threat I would take Salisu over Bednarek any day of the week, including this Sunday. It is unclear if improving our passing game is worth the risk.
As such, next weekend’s fixture against a derby-stung Manchester United who need to put in a professional performance at home now looks very fucking ominous. Sellés has made clear his desire to cultivate 7-8 regular starters, and you’d think the centrebacks would be among them. If I’m right that Bednarek’s inclusion is related to the ambition to play out from the back, then I expect him to start on Sunday. That terrifies me, because whilst his press-resistance will be an asset, Ten Hag will surely look at our vulnerability from crosses against Leicester and seek to target this. I have no desire to be pushed further towards relegation by Luke Shaw. On the plus side, it’s unlikely to be Bednarek’s worst visit to Old Trafford.
And what of the future? At the start of the season, when Bella-Kotchap debuted, I truly thought the Bednarek-Stephens era at Southampton FC might finally be over. His contract runs out in 2025,1 the replacements were in, and we packed him off to Villa. I actually thought his parting dig was pretty funny, and had been well-earned by player who'd only ever tried his best and taken massive stick from the fans. I thought it was a fitting end.
His hysterical own goal in Jones’ departing game against Wolves only underlined how laughably wrong I was. He was always going to return from Villa, score a calamitous own goal, and be readmitted to the starting XI. Now, it's not even unreasonable to think his contract might be extended. Sellés wants to trim the squad, but with Sali's contract running short and Lyanco allegedly disheartened, maybe there's space for an imperfect senior player who knows the team and is possessed of specific competencies that Sellés values. Who knows?
Nobody knows, because there are no fans at Southampton FC, just passengers on the Bednarek Carousel. We march on, but the carousel just goes round and round.
Happy Bednaissance everybody.
[Edited 12.04.23] When published, I wrote that his contract ran out in summer 2023. I was so convinced, I didn't even check. Thanks to @SaintRob on Twitter for correcting me.