Sam Hutchinson was one man who seriously impressed Owls fans this weekend after he produced a fine display after being called up at the eleventh hour to play at centre-back.
The 30-year-old utility man has been regularly deployed in defensive midfield this season, but was forced to drop deeper back in this weekend’s clash with Leeds. Regular centre-back Julian Borner was injured in the warm-up and Garry Monk opted to move Hutchinson into his position alongside Dominic Iorfa.
Hutchinson, who signed for Sheffield Wednesday from Chelsea in 2014, has played at centre-back and in defensive midfield already for the Owls this season. The former Chelsea man’s strengths are his defensive and aerial ability (as per WhoScored) and he displayed those attributes to full effect in the goalless draw with Leeds.
Fans of the Owls were unhappy to see Julian Borner miss out, but Hutchinson stepped up brilliantly in his absence, scoring a 7.3 rating on WhoScored.
Some of the best reactions to Hutchinson’s rock-solid display can be seen in the tweets from Owls fans below.
What a player he has been for Wednesday over the years. He may as well get his yellow card in the dressing room to get it over with. Legend.
— Dean hubery (@hubery_dean) October 27, 2019
Without doubt that’s his best position…..
Reads the game in there so well.
Cultured and class from start to finish.— Rob Davy (@RobDavy2) October 27, 2019
Iorfa was MOTM but Hutch was class as well, can always count on him at CB
— Nicholas Biggs (@Biggzy96) October 26, 2019
No one was going to get through!
— Helen Wilce (@hwilce) October 26, 2019
Man of match for me, outstanding performance and less likely to dive in playing CB
— J Thomo (@themagiccap) October 26, 2019
Apart from that one hiccup, Hutch was immense!
— Ian Lawton (@mrlawton78) October 26, 2019
These tweets clearly show the impact Hutchinson had on the game against Leeds, with some fans even commenting that they thought he should be played further back more often, as they believe it to be his best position.
What do we think?
Sam Hutchinson may perhaps have had a more successful career to date if it were not for his injury problems, which have troubled him regularly since 2010, when he retired, before deciding to return to football. Hutchinson spoke openly in 2017 about how his knee troubles and depression had impacted his career and the 30-year-old has done brilliantly since signing for Sheffield Wednesday. The former Chelsea youngster seems like the ideal man for Garry Monk to have in his squad, as he can be relied upon to fill in effectively in both defence and midfield when called upon.