Everything you need to know about Southampton’s Jan Bednarek

Who Is Jan Bednarek?

Jan Bednarek’s career hasn’t been the most journeyman of sorts so far. The young Polish defender began his career with Polish side Lech Poznań, the same side that Robert Lewandowski played for before being snapped up by Borussia Dortmund.

The side would prove to be launchpad for his career. After a brief stint with GKS Górnik Łęczna, Bednarek solidified his place in Lech’s starting 11, where he shined and eventually broke through with the Polish National team in September of 2017.

He quickly became a very important piece in the squad and was one of the teams standout performers in an otherwise underwhelming stretch of games in the World Cup held in Russia in 2018.

Bednarek’s performances over his time with Lech Poznań allowed him to make the jump to the Premier League with his current side Southampton, where after a rather slow start he has become one of the teams most relied upon defensive pillars.

Bednarek’s playstyle plays into a lot of his natural physicality and tall frame. At s height of 6’3″, Bednarek makes a very imposing figure on the football pitch.

His height and strength play a large role in outmuscling the opposition and winning headers all over the field.

His ability to dominate in the air also makes him a threat from set-pieces in the opposing half of the pitch, and he has shown his ability to put the ball in the back of the net on a few occasions throughout his career.

While Bednarek is known for  “using his head” in the traditional sense for decisive clearances, as per Conor Smith of Breaking The Lines, Bednarek is also an adept student of the game, often using his perception and underrated football acumen to read the play of his opponents, keeping him a step ahead of the competition.

This ability to read the game allows him to both make crucial interceptions to stifle opposition play but also makes sure he positions himself to defend well in the box in threatening situations, often making last-ditch tackles in a professional manner.

if we compare Bednarek statistically to some of the Premier League’s best-established players and breakout stars this season, he compares quite well to them in terms of numbers.

Taking Leicester City’s Çağlar Söyüncü, for example, the two players are of the same age and have very comparable statistics.

In terms of tackles per game, Bednarek leads the Turkish defensive prodigy by 2 tackles to Söyüncü’s 1.7 per game. With regards to interceptions, the young Polish defender also leads Söyüncü with 2.2 per game, in comparison to the Turkish international’s 1.3 in the Premier League.

Clearances per game also sees the Pole on top, with his 5.8 per game significantly higher than Söyüncü’s 4.6 per game. Their numbers for box stand evenly with each other at 0.6 per game.

In taking a look at these numbers, we can say a few things off the bat. Firstly, they do not paint the whole picture for these two players, as Leicester sit in a much higher up the table than Southhampton do, which means their overall defensive record is much better than Southampton’s.

The stats also may come from the fact that more teams will be allowed a higher percentage of shots on Southampton’s goal as opposed to the lies of Leicester City.

That being said though, Bednarek’s involvement and capability to put up similar numbers in a significantly less talented squad than Leicester city is still impressive and suggests he could perhaps work the same magic for another, much better situated Premier League side.