Southampton 2017/18 season review: Jack Stephens
By Marc Walker
2017/18 was ultimately a mixed campaign for Jack Stephens, with inconsistent displays, goals and a red card coming from the centre-back.
Stephens is still relatively young in football terms and possesses some good qualities as a player, but he still has his downfalls and they would be highlighted by some poor Southampton defending over the course of the season.
It was only his second complete season with Saints and he made a total 30 appearances across all competitions; completing at least 90 minutes in each of the game’s he played.
As mentioned before, Stephens has some very good qualities as a centre-back. His ability to bring the ball out from the back was showcased on a number of occasions and can be a good asset when a team is defending deep against Saints.
According to Whoscored.com, his accumulation of 0.8 dribbles per Premier League game was higher than left-back Ryan Bertrand. This is quite an achievement considering the attacking responsibilities of both players.
His defensive stats were also solid overall. 1.9 interceptions, 4.8 clearances and 0.8 blocks per game ranked him in the top five in the team for each of those categories.
Next: Southampton 2017/18 season review: Manolo Gabbiadini
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A surprising aspect of his game emerged in late December and early January. He scored in three consecutive games against Watford (in the FA Cup), Brighton and West Brom. This meant that he had quadrupled his senior career goals tally in just a week.
A criticism of the 24-year-old has been his ability in the air after losing his marker or losing out in aerial duels on occasion in the past season. In 2017/18, he won just 45 of his 79 aerial duels, with this figure being 22 less than Maya Yoshida won despite the Japanese playing just two more games.
His keeping of the ball in normally very decent, and a pass completion of 75.5% shows this. This number will have to increase next season if he is to be at the same level as his defensive teammates though, with Maya Yoshida and Wesley Hoedt at 84.2% and 78.9% respectively.
For much of the season, Stephens’ discipline was good for a defender with just six yellow cards picked up. However, he was sent off for lashing out at Jack Wilshere in the 3-2 loss at Arsenal and although he was clearly wound-up, it was an irresponsible thing to do in the situation that saints were in.
On a lighter note, he was involved in one of the funniest moments of Southampton’s season during the FA Cup tie at Wigan. In celebration of his opening goal, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg would kick Stephens in the most delicate part of his anatomy, but he seemed alright to carry on playing thankfully!
As a young English player with good qualities, Stephens deserves to have a role in the squad next season and will only improve his negatives as he gains more experience. Saints are likely to bring in defensive reinforcements in the summer transfer window, but he should his role as one of the club’s choice of four centre-backs.