If Souttar wants to play in England he’ll need to be physical. There are big guys and you need to dominate them. But if he can do the basics he has a bright future
WATCHING Christophe Berra go about his routine business of thundering into tackles or rising to head the ball clear, it’s hard to imagine the Hearts defender being strong-armed by anyone.
Yet as the 32-year-old describes his debut for Wolves in the English Championship eight years ago, he speaks of a sore day of reckoning.
‘We played Coventry away and I was up against Leon McKenzie,’ he says. ‘We got beat 2-1 and I was thinking: “I’m getting bullied here”.
‘Up in Scotland, I had been much more dominant. I knew then I needed to adapt and had to get stronger.’
At this stage it’s only fair to point out that McKenzie went on to forge a post-football career in the boxing ring, suggesting Berra wouldn’t have been the only defender to have found himself rag-dolled at the Ricoh Arena.
Nevertheless, he resolved to address his shortcomings and within a few months of his £2.5million transfer from Tynecastle was playing English Premier League football with the newly-promoted club.
The story has already been recounted to John Souttar, Berra’s current defensive partner and a young man tipped to make his own fortune south of the border.
Derby County have been linked with a move for the 21-year-old but, recognising the flaws in his own game, Souttar has declared himself in no hurry to leave Hearts, where Berra is just one of three guiding influences on his development.
Although integral to Hearts’ impressive run of six clean sheets, Souttar remains a junior sidekick to Berra, who returned to the club last summer as captain and is a current serving international with Scotland.
To Souttar’s right on any given Saturday might be Aaron Hughes, Premier League veteran with Newcastle United and Fulham — and a man rewarded with 109 caps across an international career that is still, officially at least, ongoing with Northern Ireland.
And in the dugout and at the side of the training pitch is Craig Levein, the Hearts manager and himself a gnarled centre-back of old in maroon and the dark blue of his country.
Souttar has been regarded as one of Scotland’s most promising talents since he broke through at Dundee United aged just 16. Both he and his childhood friend Ryan Gauld were feted for their technical ability but while Gauld accepted the challenge of refining his attacking game in Portugal with Sporting Lisbon, Souttar stayed in Scotland and, gradually, has started adding bite to his natural inclination to build play from the back.
Berra believes his young team-mate will eventually head south and develop into a top-class international player but admits he needs to absorb a few more hits first.
‘Let’s be honest, if John wants to go down to England at some point he will need to be physical,’ added Berra. ‘You’re up against big guys down there and you need to be dominant in the air. You need to dominate your opponent and once you have got that right only, then have you earned the right to play.
‘It’s about winning that first ball when it comes long. I actually said that to him at half-time in the Edinburgh derby just after Christmas. First half, he didn’t always win the first header or it was flicked on behind him.
‘I said that if he could win those first headers and send the ball back, it would stop a lot of problems for us. He went out second half and won everything. ‘The gaffer stresses that to him as well. Consistent aggression. Win your headers and just be hard to beat.
‘If he does the basics right then he has all the ability to go on top of that. He is getting better, week in, week out. He is only 21 and has a bright future ahead of him.’
While Berra managed three years in England’s top tier before eventually transferring to Ipswich Town, he knows his pedigree pales in comparison to that of Hughes who managed 17 years at that level with Newcastle, Aston Villa and Fulham. Now 38, Hughes is a supplementary playing option to the Berra/Souttar axis but is providing an education to both in how to defend with minimum fuss.
‘Aaron is someone for everyone to look up to, including me,’ said Berra. ‘He has played a lot more games at a higher level than me, so his experience is something we can all draw on. He wins his headers, does the basics right and doesn’t get beat one-on-one.’
Still young enough to be operating at peak form, Berra’s decision to return to Edinburgh under freedom of contract was inspired by family concerns but has also been a source of professional fulfilment. The sacking of head coach Ian Cathro before a league ball had been kicked may have sent the club into a state of flux but Berra emerged as a stabilising influence in the early weeks of the campaign, maintaining a high level of performance as others around him struggled.
The return to the dugout of Levein has toughened the team and forged continuity and Berra finds the environment challenging, too. There might not be many Leon McKenzies ready to go toe-to-toe in the Premiership but Berra has been stimulated by the competition.
He continued: ‘The Scottish league gets a lot of harsh criticism but there are a lot of good players up here and the standard is decent. It’s competitive.
‘Trust me there are a lot of bad games down in England and sometimes teams just cancel each other out.
‘People can be a bit arrogant when they look into Scottish football but players are fit and they work hard. It’s competitive.’
Hearts ended the year placed a solid fifth in the league table. They may aspire to a loftier position but having gotten through the disorientating spell that saw the team play its home matches at Murrayfield, they are unbeaten in nine matches.
An impressive December run included a 4-0 win over Celtic and sent the club into the winter break harbouring feelings of optimism.
Hostilities will resume with a Scottish Cup tie against Hibs at Tynecastle on January 21 and the tie will be approached with confidence, even if the captain advises caution.
‘We are nowhere near the finished article,’ warned Berra. ‘We know that and we are not naïve. There is a lot of improvement to do.
‘We have had a run of clean sheets but we need to score more goals and that is not just down to the strikers. It’s down to our creative play and how we function from back to front.
‘I’m sure the manager will be looking to make a few additions in January and put his own stamp on the squad. He wants pace in the team.’
Berra’s star was in the ascendant when he left Hearts in 2009 but he has returned looking a better player and one who for the first time in his career has made himself a fixture in the Scotland team.
‘Some people made a big deal of me coming back which adds a lot of pressure,’ he admitted. ‘If I’d had a stinker, a couple of bad games, the people would soon have let me know.
‘I’m not a miracle worker. I just come and work hard every week.’
He has to be aggressive consistently. Win headers, be hard to beat