Ralph’s First Choice – Jan Bednarek
Enough time spent praising his partner, let’s not overlook Jan Bednarek’s performance on Saturday. Bednarek was just as pivotal in stopping Burnley’s relentless aerial attack. He spent much of the time man marking Chris Wood, and showed no problem shifting to the right side of the centre-back pairing.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has chosen Bednarek for nearly every game he has managed and obviously trusts his instincts. He did drop him at half time of the Palace match as Southampton searched for a direct route out of the back, but he seems to have developed his passing in short order. Bednarek drilled his best pass of the game 50 yards on a line to wing-back Kyle Walker-Peters. If he can steadily add this skill to his game, even Mohammed Salisu will have difficulty taking his position.
Bednarek is a mainstay and it is easy to overlook his performance when the much maligned partner shines. However, we must give credit to the Polish centre-back who is proving to be one of the best Southampton buys in the last 5 years.