Maya Yoshida named Southampton’s Player of the Month for April

Japanese centre-back Maya Yoshida has been rewarded for his fine efforts in April, as he has been named Southampton’s Under Armour Player of the Month.

Southampton might not of enjoyed a terribly successful month in April, with no win past the game against West Brom on the eighth.

However that doesn’t mean the Saints weren’t decent on the defensive end, with three clean sheets showing their structure and discipline.

Maya Yoshida played each and every minute of the side’s six games in the busy month, averaging a rating over 7.0 on four occasions on WhoScored.

He scored against Crystal Palace near the start of the month to help his side to a comeback victory, but his performance against West Brom the following weekend was even more exceptional.

The Japanese international produced a whopping 12 clearances but also registered four inceptions and a blocked shot, without giving away a single foul.

In fact the 28-year-old continued his hot-streak outside the referee’s notebook, as he successfully didn’t get given a yellow card for the third successive month.

Against Hull City Yoshida attempted 57 passes, the most of any defender, whilst also adding some more stellar numbers across his defensive stat-line.

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Without Virgil van Dijk in the starting XI Yoshida has had to deputize as the experienced and reliable centre-back among the available players, and with that has taken on a lot more responsibility than he had done previously.

However unorthodox he may of been the defender has thrived under the captian-esque role he’s now taken up in the absence of VVD, only emphasising his warrant for the award.

Even into this month his form hasn’t taken a hit, as he produced another solid defensively display against Liverpool before partnering Martin Caceres to victory yesterday against Middlesbrough.

The former VVV-Venlo defender has made more appearances in all competitions this season than in any of his previous four, and his current contract expires at the end of next season.