Player Analysis: Krystian Bielik

2020 has been a rough year for Krystian Bielik as he has spent the majority of the past 12 months on the sidelines after tearing his anterior cruciate ligaments in January. The Polish midfielder missed a total of eleven months of football, eventually making his long-awaited return on December 1st.

Derby County have also struggled of late. Their play-off push fizzled away towards the end of the 2019-20 season and Phillip Cocu was unable to stop the rot at Pride Park; Derby started the new season terribly and quickly sunk into the relegation zone. Cocu was sacked in mid-November as the Rams set 24th in the table with just six points to their name.

However, since the installment of Wayne Rooney as interim manager, and the return of Bielik, Derby have looked like a much better side, having only lost once in their last eight games. They’re now 20th in the Championship - above the bottom three for the first time since late October.

Rooney certainly deserves credit for breathing some life back into this Derby side; they look more organised and defensively drilled, conceding just one goal in their past five games. His transition from player to manager has been almost seamless, but Bielik’s impact on the Derby team shouldn’t go under the radar. After playing a few u21 games, and making the 18-man matchday squad, Bielik finally made his return to the Derby starting XI vs Coventry at the start of December. His importance to the team was clear for all to see.