Saints Marching
Fansided

Southampton: Review of Jannik Vestergaard’s Saints season so far

By Marc Walker

HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 22: Michael Obafemi of Southampton celebrates victory with Jannik Vestergaard of Southampton after the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Southampton FC at John Smith's Stadium on December 22, 2018 in Huddersfield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
HUDDERSFIELD, ENGLAND - DECEMBER 22: Michael Obafemi of Southampton celebrates victory with Jannik Vestergaard of Southampton after the Premier League match between Huddersfield Town and Southampton FC at John Smith's Stadium on December 22, 2018 in Huddersfield, United Kingdom. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Southampton looked to try and plug a gap in their defence last summer with the signing of 6ft 6in centre-back Jannik Vestergaard from Borussia Monchengladbach.

The Danish international commanded a fee of around £18m and he arrived in a spending spree that also saw Mohamed Elyounoussi, Angus Gunn, Stuart Armstrong and Danny Ings join the club.

He became a regular in the first part of the season under Mark Hughes and played the duration of six of the first seven Premier League games of the season.

However, the 26-year-old soon fell out of favour and spent seven of the next eight matches on the bench.

Vestergaard seems to be a player that current Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl likes and he has been a regular since his appointment in December.

SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 09: Jannik Vestergaard of Southampton heads the ball during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Cardiff City at St Mary’s Stadium on February 9, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images)
SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 09: Jannik Vestergaard of Southampton heads the ball during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Cardiff City at St Mary’s Stadium on February 9, 2019 in Southampton, United Kingdom. (Photo by Henry Browne/Getty Images) /

Next. How many points do Saints need to confirm Premier League survival?. dark

The Austrian would have known him from his time in Germany and will be aware of the Dane’s strengths.

One costly mistake would come for him in his first game back in the Saints defence though. A badly underhit backpass away to Cardiff City gifted opposition forward Callum Paterson the winning goal in Hasenhuttl’s first game in charge.

More from Saints Marching

Despite this setback, Vestergaard has repaid the faith shown by his manager and has taken full advantage to become a key part of the team’s backline.

Both he and Jan Bednarek in particular have been highly impressive after being left out in the cold by Hughes previously.

Vestergaard’s height in particular is an important addition for Saints and – according to whoscored.com – he has won 3.8 aerial duels per game this season.

After the defence last season was criticised for not winning enough in the air and struggling to deal with crosses, this is a major addition.

The common thought with tall players is that they lack ability with their feet, but this is not the case with Vestergaard.

He has made a team high average of 7.1 clearances, 2.1 tackles and 1.4 interceptions per game and has impressed with his distribution at times.

Overall, he has shown great mental strength to come back from being dropped at the beginning of the campaign and his mistake against Cardiff, has added aerial dominance and looks to be a key member of the Saints defence at this moment in time.