Derby County journalist Ryan Conway has been sharing his thoughts on Rams midfielder Krystian Bielik and his current absence through injury and how that has impacted the team.
This comes after Conway recently uploaded a video onto his YouTube channel where he spoke about a number of topics concerning the Midlands club, including their recent 1-0 defeat against Stoke City in the Championship.
On the subject of Bielik and his injury troubles, Conway had this to say on the midfield man and his absence from the team. (16.02)
He said: “I think it’s very obvious that Bielik and what he brings to the team is such a big miss. His defensive work, his off the ball work was excellent and the fact that he would get on the ball and spray passes early, he’d see passes early, he’d see the runs early, he could dribble and break lines and then play through the lines.
“He was very frustrating in his first season and I know a lot of fans were like, why did we pay this money for this guy? You see now why you paid the money that you pay for him. I mean, he’s a record signing and he’s one of the ones that Mel [Morris] and Phillip [Cocu] got right.
“He’s been perfect for this team when he plays in it. But man, those two ACL’s are so bad and the injury-prone label isn’t fair on him because two ACL’s are freak injuries complete I mean, complete freak injuries, so yeah, it sucks.”
Derby signed Bielik back in August 2019 from Premier League side Arsenal for a fee of £7.38 million.
Since his arrival at Pride Park, the 23-year-old, who is currently valued at £4.5 million, has made 34 appearances for the club in which he has managed to score two goals in the process (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Ryan Conway’s comments on Bielik and his absence from the team…
Back in January Bielik suffered a torn knee ligament and hasn’t played a game since. This comes after he recovered from a cruciate ligament rupture back in October that kept him out of action for 29 matches.
Have Derby missed Bielik since he's been out injured?
Yes
No
Given how Bielik is currently Derby’s highest-rated player for his performances in the 13 appearances he’s made in the Championship this season with a rating of 7.53/10 and the fact that he has won more man of the match awards (4) from WhoScored than any other Rams player, this just goes to show how important he is to the team.
Taking this into account, everyone at the club will be hoping to see Bielik recover from his latest injury as soon as possible so he can get back on the pitch and help his teammates.