Southampton defender Lyanco reacts to “difficult debut” for club

Southampton defender Lyanco has reacted to his first appearance for the club in what he describes as a “difficult debut”.

The Brazilian made his bow in Saints’ win on penalties over Sheffield United in the EFL Cup on Tuesday evening and had a mixed game as he adjusts to English football.

He made some good defensive contributions and battled hard against a Blades forward line with a good level of Premier League experience but also made errors – one in particular led to Sheffield United’s second goal.

The 24-year-old does seem a determined character who could provide the Saints dressing room with some useful leadership in the future though and his social media post below suggests that he will take his debut in his stride.

Southampton’s Lyanco is a “long-term” project

After coming to Saints from Serie A side Torino, it will take time for the defender to come to terms with a faster and more attacking brand of football in this country. The Saints coaching staff and Lyanco’s fellow teammates will know this, and fans should realise this too.

Speaking earlier this month, Ralph Hasenhuttl admitted that Lyanco was a long-term project and that this was the same for any new signing that is brought in.

Lyanco’s performance against Sheffield United has not shown what he could become when he has more training, more games and ultimately more time to transfer his undoubted skills fully to this country.

When looking at his displays for Torino, Saints will have seen a player capable of filling part of the Jannik Vestergaard void in their defence. He may not have the same height at the Dane but has shown in Italy that he can be the ball-playing centre-back.

What he will quickly learn is that he has less time to pick passes now and he will need to learn the Saints system quickly to enable automatic passing links to emerge with his teammates.