Speaking on a recent episode of the Football Writers Podcast, Darren Lewis discussed Southampton defender Jannik Vestergaard and what he has made of the 28-year-old so far this season.
Since moving to Southampton from Borussia Monchengladbach in what was a £22.5 million deal back in 2018, Vestergaard has gone on to feature 53 times for the Saints, chipping in with three goals along the way.
So far this season, the £10.8 million-rated defender has highly impressed for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side, scoring two goals, as well as averaging 0.8 tackles, one interception and 6.2 clearances per game over his six Premier League appearances, culminating in an average WhoScored match rating of 7.31/10 – ranking him as the club’s third-best player in the league.
The Denmark international was one topic of conversation on a recent episode of the Football Writers podcast, in which Lewis had his say on Vestergaard’s performances so far this term.
He said: “I was guilty of maybe not thinking that much of Jannik Vestergaard. I think he could do with a bit more pace – I’ll tell you why I say that. I watched Timo Werner roll him at Stamford Bridge and then split away from him so quickly, he left dust in his wake and Vestergaard was nowhere near [him].
“To be fair, you’re talking about an elite forward in Werner, so maybe I’m being a little bit harsh, but there was nothing poor about the way that he took his goal against Aston Villa – great movement, great header, and such a force at set-pieces for Southampton.”
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TIF Thoughts on Darren Lewis’ comments regarding Jannik Vestergaard…
From Lewis’ comments, it would appear that the journalist has not been overly convinced with Vestergaard this season, as he believes that the centre-back lacks a significant amount of pace.
However, he does appear to be impressed with the way that the 28-year-old took his goal against Villa, as well as his overall threat from set-pieces for the club.
In our opinion, considering the defender’s performances have seen him rank as Southampton’s third-best player in the league so far this season, in a campaign in which the side currently sit in fifth place in the Premier League, we feel that Lewis is still slightly underappreciating the performances of Vestergaard.