Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has been quietly impressive for Southampton

Among the superb goal-scoring from Manolo Gabbiadini, the defensive form of Virgil van Dijk and the enforcing play of Oriol Romeu lies Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, who has actually been really solid for the Saints.

When your defensive-midfield combination is a terrier-like captain and your Player of the Season, it’s arguably hard for another player in that position to make his mark.

That’s exactly the case with Southampton, with Steven Davis and Oriol Romeu leaving back-up midfielders Harrison Reed, Jordy Clasie and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg little opportunity to force their way into the first team.

At the weekend Claude Puel rotated to use the familiar diamond formation Saints fans saw at the start of the season. In doing so he used both of the latter two, and once again Hojbjerg was quietly impressive.

This isn’t something of a rarity for the Danish international, who has in fact been really solid for Southampton since his summer move from Germany.

Mentored under a Pep Guardiola-led Bayern Munch, the young midfielder has the best passing accuracy of any player among the Southampton ranks. In fact, he has the 14th best passing success in the entire Premier League.

Whilst he may attempt less passes per game than other top-quality players, he’s still producing a better average than Mesut Ozil or Ander Herrera. He’s attempted more passes per game than former Saints midfielder Adam Lallana and Alexis Sanchez as well.

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SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – JANUARY 28: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg of Southampton in action during the Emirates FA Cup Fourth Round match between Southampton and Arsenal at St Mary’s Stadium on January 28, 2017 in Southampton, England. (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images) /

The issue lies with how to best utilise the 21-year-old. He doesn’t truly fit into the 4-2-3-1 we’ve become accustomed in recent months.

At Bayern he often played in the pivot role in defensive midfield in a 4-1-4-1 formation, similar to where Yaya Toure has played as of late in Guardiola’s City setup.

This is because he isn’t a classic, rugid defensive mid who will win you the ball like Romeu. Nor can be pose a Tadic-esque threat on offensive foot, thus leaving him without much room to maneuver in Puel’s 4-2-3-1.

Steven Davis isn’t unfamiliar playing in the the middle of a three-man midfielder with room to roam, and if he was deployed their again that could free up the prospect of using Romeu and Hojbjerg together as a partnership.

The young man evidently has the potential to reach the top level, or he wouldn’t of been nurtured by Guardiola during his time in Bavaria. He may of seemed quiet a times but his ability to do the game’s simple stuff is an underrated skill that he possesses.