Saints summer signings have all been under fire for being under par, on Saturday Stuart Armstrong showed why we signed him and at Leicester Jannik Vestergaard returned to the team could he be the missing link.

Part of the reason Les Reed lost his job was the quality of his signings in the summer seemed to be sub standard, Stuart Armstrong seemed lively but lightweight, Mohammed Elyounoussi seemed gifted and Jannik Vestergaard seemed slow and cumbersome.

The fact was though that none of the trio seemed to be able to adjust to the pace and physicality of the Premier League.

The same could have been levelled at Pierre Emile Hojbjerg in his first season at the club, so much so that in his second season he could not even get in the match day squad and at one point was allowed to go home during the season for the birth of his child, however he came back knuckled down and eventually was runner up to Alex McCarthy in the player of the year stakes, proving that it is possible to come good.

On Saturday Stuart Armstrong came into the side and showed that he has what it takes and with an eye for goal, last night at Leicester City it was Jannik Vestergaard making his first appearance in two months who showed that he should not be written off just yet.

Some will point out that it was a weakened Leicester side etc etc, but you can only play what is in front of you and take every game as it comes and he was up against Jamie Vardy who is no slouch.

Vestergaard looked leaner and sharper than he did a couple of months ago, he seems to have spent his time as Hojbjerg did by getting fit and stronger and waiting for his chance rather than whinging in the press.

Now we will see if he is ready to step back into the side and show why we paid £18 million for him.

The centre of defence is a key position for Saints and it has been a case of mix and match for the past two years with no stable pairing since Fonte started kicking off after his return from Euro 2016.

In the last year it has been mainly a case of Wesley Hoedt and someone else, Vestergaard, Stephens, Yoshida and Bednarek have all played alongside him and none have showed on a regular basis that they are up to the standard required.

Many would level that claim at Hoedt, I am not going to debate that hear, I can only go on what has been the facts, both Pellegrino and then Hughes both seem to think Hoedt is the best of the bunch, at least so far, perhaps that will change but as i write that is the situation, if you disagree don't shoot the messenger take it up with the manager.

What is also fact is that we need someone to step into that breach and stand up and be counted, if it is not Vestergaard then we need to buy again in the centre of defence in January.

I have been saying ever since Fonte left that we have neglected a key position in the team, it cost us the League cup final, it nearly cost us our Premier League status last season and if not addressed again will do this.

So can Vestergaard like Armstrong show he has what it takes, can he add the steel to the back four that is lacking and has cost us game after game, he has a month to show that he does, if he doesn't then we will be in deep trouble.

Photo: Action Images

Heisenberg added 10:02 - Nov 28 Anything is better than Hoedt. Personally I'd go for any of the other centre half's. If that doesn't work go for Cahill on loan until the end of the season.
4

Sanguin added 10:47 - Nov 28 Fulham showed that Hoedt and Yoshida have a lot of work to do to improve their communication. I hope Vestergaard does come good, because the last game he played in the league he was relying on Hoedt to clear up his mistakes. I've said it before, but when we had Fonte and van Dijk, Yoshida wasn't good enough to get into the first eleven. Now I'd argue Yoshida is our most consistent central defender. After Lovren, Alderwireld and van Dijk our central defensive signings haven't been good enough.

4

SanMarco added 11:03 - Nov 28 We need Vestergaard to come good - the thing we most lack is the quality CB as pointed out by Sanguin above. Our decline could be charted by the quality of our best CB. The idea, presumably was Hoedt and Vestergaard for this season but Hoedt is quite obviously having enormous problems. We need to give Vestergaard a second chance and hope to god that he takes it. Saturday showed clearly that we will not survive playing Hoedt + 1. We obviously also have enormous problems scoring but we scored as many as Huddersfield did at the weekend...

4

SaintNick added 11:06 - Nov 28 Sanguin Yoshida has only played three league games this season, so im not sure anyone could argue he has been our most consistent central defender he simply hasnt played enough games
3

surreysaint added 11:23 - Nov 28 I don't think there's a lot between any of Hoedt, Vestergaard, Stephens, Bednarek and Yoshida in terms of ability. The biggest thing Fonte had that we haven't replaced is leadership and organisational skills. That comes with experience and we don't have an old head back there - aside from Yoshi, JV is the oldest at 26! The Cahill idea above is a good one. He'd be an upgrade up in every sense. If he won't come, i think we need to pick a pairing and just stick with them. Chopping and changing every game isn't working, unsurprisingly...

5

KriSaint added 12:57 - Nov 28 Vestergaard will be fine when his team is playing in a 3-5-2 formation, I think.
-1

underweststand added 15:23 - Nov 28 Its clear that any player coming into the Prem. needs time to adjust and Vestergaard " got the chop" - (or was he injured) after just 6 games. He had a torrid time against Liverpool and in the Wolves game but in all honesty I don't think he was worse than Hoedt. None of our five CB's have impressed me greatly - in any sort of combination - and (sorry Nick) but I don't share your negative judgement of Yoshida who is most experienced. Clearly anyone of Vestergaards stature doesn't move/turn as fast as some, but his height is in his favour and like Peter Crouch he covers a lot of ground when on the move. I would go for a combination (not yet tried) ...of Vestergaard and Yoshida with Stephens or Bednarek - if we play 3 at the back. This thread is meant to be about Vestergaard but I think that Hoedt (in his present role) is a bigger problem than anyone else. The Cahill connection ?......may sound nice - even if we could afford him - but we have to make the best of the FIVE CB's we are paying every month at thats the reality of it.

1

I_would added 16:37 - Nov 28 In the last 3 years it wouldn't have been hard to be 'Player of the Year'.
0

Blogs 31 bloggers

Stoke City Polls