Saturday 3 October 2015 17:38, UK
As fit-again Ryan Bertrand returns to Stamford Bridge, Adam Bate examines his performances for Southampton and his England prospects...
"I thought he was the best player on the pitch. He had no pre-season, was out for three months, then to play like that was great." - Ronald Koeman on Ryan Bertrand
Bertrand returned to the Southampton starting line-up for their 3-1 win over Swansea on Saturday and picked up where he left off last season. The 26-year-old proved an important outlet throughout and completed more passes in the opposition half than any other Saints player.
He played his part in his team's third goal too. Rather than crossing into an area, Bertrand picked out Graziano Pelle on the edge of the box with a measured pass and the ball eventually found its way to Sadio Mane, who scored with the follow-up chance.
Those efforts earned the praise of his manager Koeman but, in truth, it was no more than supporters have come to expect from a player who became only the third Southampton man ever to be named in the PFA's Premier League team of the year last season.
Bertrand's pedigree, of course, is considerable. Famously, he was part of the Chelsea team that won the Champions League in 2012, playing as a left-winger. John Terry said it "worked a treat" and Frank Lampard insisted that the youngster had a "massive future".
But first-team football was not forthcoming. The surprising decline of Ashley Cole coupled with Filipe Luis's later inability to settle might have presented an opening but it wasn't to be. Chelsea could certainly have done a lot worse.
Koeman recognised his potential from the start. "He has shown his qualities from the first day but I expected this kind of quality," said the Dutchman. "All he needed was to play every weekend and now he's doing that it makes him stronger and more confident."
He has shown his qualities from the first day.
Bertrand has been identified by his manager as "an offensive left-back" and that's reflected by the fact that he ranked among the top 10 full-backs in the country for chances created last season. In terms of clear-cut chances carved out, Bertrand was in the top three.
However, unlike the others on that list he didn't make a single defensive error leading to a shot or a goal. Bertrand ranked in the top 10 for defensive interceptions too. Given these numbers, it's perhaps surprising that he has found himself on the fringes for England.
Indeed, last season alone Bertrand saw Leighton Baines, Luke Shaw, Kieran Gibbs and Danny Rose picked ahead of him. "I know I should be in there," he said in what could have been interpreted as an ill-advised dig at Roy Hodgson. But Southampton is his primary focus.
"When I left Chelsea to join Southampton I wasn't too stressed about the pressure of getting back into the England fold. It was all about getting that consistency and getting that playing time. It was important to be doing that one step at a time."
Returning to Stamford Bridge for the first time since permanently cutting ties this summer, Bertrand's recent progress has been hampered by injury so the next step has had to wait. He only returned as a substitute in the Capital One Cup win over MK Dons late last month.
As such, Koeman was initially keen to downplay expectations. "He's been out for a long time and it's also difficult because he was out from May and that means no pre-season and a pre-season for a player is a very important part of the season."
But judging by his impressive return to action, missing pre-season might not prove critical. In fact, with Shaw and Baines injured and neither Gibbs nor Rose first-choice at their clubs, perhaps there is an England place and a trip to Euro 2016 waiting for Bertrand after all.
Chelsea v Southampton is live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 5pm on Saturday
