Midfield should be best place for Bielik on return
prised to see anyone’s name linked and, again, that’s credit to the players because they are generating interest in this club, 100%.
“If they didn’t do that, I am sure there wouldn’t be as much interest. So it wouldn’t surprise me if anyone’s name popped up.
“I think people are looking at this club and they want to be part of it even though we are in this situation. They can see the direction the club is going in.
“Of course, we took a hit which has been difficult and, as I said last season, and early on this season, we have to take a step backwards to move forwards.
“I think everyone can see that from performances, from the character of the players, the hard work they are putting in, the number of fans we are getting every week, people can see the potential and see how much this club can grow.
“As the manager, I am trying to get us to play in a certain way, in the right way but in an effective way which can keep us in this division. The coaches, the physios, the doctor, they all deserve a lot of credit for the work they are putting in, and it will be worth it.
“I do believe, and I said this last year, I do believe we will stay up. We are good enough to stay up, we have got the players and the character to stay up.”
WHEN Wayne Rooney got Krystian Bielik back into the fold last December, the Derby County manager was robust in the Poland international’s position.
Rooney has made it clear that so long as he was at the helm of the Rams, Bielik would be deployed in midfield. But a year is an eternity in football and since Bielik went down with his second ACL injury in as many years, Derby’s squad looks majorly different.
Bielik is a versatile piece and during his first season with the Rams, then manager Phillip Cocu chopped and changed putting the former Arsenal man as a centre-back and a holding midfielder.
There is a perfectly good argument that Bielik should be added to the centre-back ranks, considering how thin the group is with only Curtis Davies, Phil Jagielka and Richard Stearman the only senior recognised names there. Craig Forsyth has chipped in but is much more comfortable at left-back and Eiran Cashin has been in and out of first team squads as Derby have battled personnel problems.
Bielik would offer height, awareness, clever defending and the passing ability to help the Rams play out from the back, as is Rooney’s want from the team. It would be tempting to slot him in and add an extra dimension to the team from a defending and build-up perspective.
However, when the 24-year-old was at his best for Derby, it was as part of a midfield screen with either Max Bird or Graeme Shinnie.
His return adds to an already stiff competition in the middle of the park. Bird and Shinnie have been the nerve-centre for Derby all season.
Bird is playing the best football of his young career to date. Meanwhile, Shinnie continues to be consistently excellent in his box-to-box role.
Couple their presence with that of Jason Knight - who is versatile enough to play on the wings - the emerging Liam Thompson, while Louie Sibley and Louie Watson are still sniffing around the senior squad, even if they are not getting much of a look-in at present, and it is a midfield jam-packed with options.
But when Bielik was Derby’s best player, he was doing it as a midfielder. A stop-start first season which ended with an ACL injury while playing in an under-23s game was soon forgotten when he got back on the field and put in a string of all-action performances.
His eye for a pass was razor-sharp, his weight of it even better.
Attackers beyond him had the trust that they could make their run and Bielik would find them in stride. His ability to play between the lines was a welcome one as Derby started to find gaps more often in their attack, wide players could make runs knowing their team-mate had the ability to send a crossfield ball with laser precision.
On the defensive end, Bielik was able to put himself in a position to smartly intercept balls, use his body to “box out” opponents, put the ball under his spell and get Derby moving again. His long, rangy legs came in handy if, rarely, he was caught out of position and needed to make a last-ditch challenge.
Rooney his team wants to be dynamic, exciting and entertaining. For the most part this season they have been a lot more swashbuckling than in the previous two seasons.
Their front four can be exciting if inconsistent at times and the fullbacks are often dynamic. If there is one area they can improve it is their speed moving the ball in the middle of the park.
Bird continues his improvement with quick rotation of the ball, more daring passes and a general commanding demeanour in midfield, but he is still a smidge off where Bielik was when he went down with an injury in January 2021.
It may mean that one of Knight, Thompson, Sibley or somebody else misses out but Derby’s best chances of improving their dynamism further still is by slotting Bielik right back into midfield.