Southampton-related journalist Dan Sheldon has criticised Yan Valery, ahead of the club’s Premier League game against Arsenal.
Sheldon was recently present on the ‘Total Saints Podcast’ and he was involved in a discussion about Southampton’s upcoming Premier League game against Arsenal. While talking about the midweek game, Sheldon also addressed the situation of Valery and how he could be a weak link against the Gunners.
Valery did feature for the club against Norwich City on Friday. The Frenchman started the game at right-back and earned a pretty good WhoScored rating of 7.1. He was substituted for Kyle Walker-Peters in the second-half (via WhoScored).
Despite his positive performance against the Canaries, Sheldon was critical of Valery. He said: “If Valery does play [against Arsenal], he’s going to have a busy 90 minutes. If he has an error, you just kind of hope that there’s someone else there to cover for him.
Should Valery start against Arsenal in mid-week?
I'd love that
No, he'll lose us the game
“I find when I watch Valery, he doesn’t drift in and out of games, but every now and then, he’ll do something [to make you say] ‘Oh, wow, that’s good.’
“And then he’d go and do something [and] you think ‘oh, my word’. He’s so vulnerable at the back. At the moment, he is their weak link in defence.”
Sheldon clearly expresses disappointment with Valery and talks about how inconsistent he can be while playing for the Saints.
TIF Thoughts…
Valery is still only 21 and is valued at £5.67m by Transfermarkt. The 2019/20 season has seen him play only 11 times in all competitions, with 10 of those appearances coming in the Premier League. However, the fact that he’s played only 829 minutes in all competitions shows that he’s still inexperienced and isn’t a regular (via Transfermarkt).
So that inexperience might explain why he has committed the errors that Sheldon talks about. But it is key to note that he is still only 21 and is only into his first full season in the Premier League, as he had spent some time with the Saints’ Under-23 side last season (via Transfermarkt).
So maybe, journalists and fans should give the Frenchman some time to develop. And with patience, he can develop into a much better player for the club.