The Big Sexy Pirate is captaining the ship - Square Ball 5/9/23
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YARR!
Written by: Rob Conlon
Trying to reinvent yourself is a rite of passage for anyone
in their early twenties. When he’s not been experimenting with some
questionable haircuts or trawling through vintage shops trying to find his
‘look’, Pascal Struijk has been grappling with some much bigger identity crises
in recent years. Born in Belgium, raised in the Netherlands, and with
Indonesian heritage, becoming of interest to international Football
Associations has meant Struijk has had to choose which of those three countries
he feels most representative of. On the pitch, he’s been talked up as a
talented young centre-back while spending half his time playing as a holding
midfielder or left-back. Off the pitch, he didn’t even tell his teammates he
was about to become a father until the day his daughter Ayla was born.
It’s no surprise that, after promising starts to the
previous two seasons, Struijk ended both campaigns as dazed and confused as
everyone else at Leeds United. A few months into the 2021/22 season, Marcelo
Bielsa was praising Struijk as a “very necessary” player, but no goal summed up
the collapse of Bielsa’s reign like Struijk being dragged out of defence at
Anfield, allowing Joel Matip to play a one-two around him and score one of
Liverpool’s six past Leeds. Liverpool’s coaching staff were overheard congratulating
themselves after the match after practising the move in training, but I’ve
often wondered whether Struijk would have been so easily led astray if he had
Liam Cooper shouting instructions alongside him or Kalvin Phillips’ protection
in front of him.
Likewise, Struijk’s form at the beginning of last season
earned him a place in the Netherlands’ provisional World Cup squad. He couldn’t
maintain those performances playing left-back under Jesse Marsch, a manager who
admitted he was surprised by Premier League teams having the imagination to
think of crossing to the back post, and he was engulfed by the nervous
breakdown that did for Javi Gracia. For all the talk that Sam Allardyce was the
man to organise Leeds’ defence, my lasting image of Leeds’ relegation was
Struijk arguing with Max Wober after they’d been easily passed around by
Tottenham because they couldn’t work out who was meant to close down an
attacker. For the Big Sexy Pirate, the last two years of playing for Leeds
United has been like sailing through a storm with a broken compass and a
shortage of rum.
Daniel Farke has already soothed the seas and brought a map.
Now the question is whether Struijk can build on some promising performances
and keep them up beyond Christmas. He can’t rely on the experience of the
injured Liam Cooper helping him, and probably doesn’t need the responsibility
of guiding Charlie Cresswell, so Leeds have given him a ready-made, Europa
League-tested version of Creswell named Joe Rodon. Rodon plays with a similar
muscular energy as young Charlie, but benefits from a few extra years of
experience, international caps, and whiskers on his chin. While Cresswell was
learning how to stomach jellied eels and trying his best to ignore Gary Rowett
in Bermondsey last season, Rodon was shutting out Messi, Mbappe and Neymar on
loan at Rennes, learning how to shout ‘get rid!’ in French.
Giving the fans somebody new to focus on in defence seems to
have helped Struijk get on with his job and regain his confidence. He was
quietly excellent in the draw against West Brom, playing like the centre-back
Marcelo Bielsa always wanted him to be, taking the ball from the opposition
forwards and quickly freeing his teammates in front of him to restart
attacking. Whisper it quietly, but a clean sheet against Sheffield Wednesday,
Leeds’ first in 21 games, could be further evidence that Struijk – and Illan
Meslier behind him – might be rediscovering the groove that convinced us they
were so talented in the first place.
After a couple of years trying to reinvent himself,
Struijk’s new identity is the same as his old one, albeit with an unexpected
twist. He’s starting to grow his hair out again, hopefully meaning the Big Sexy
Pirate is making a return to captain HMS Piss The League. His fiancée is on
board with the nickname, although even she probably didn’t expect her future
husband to currently be Leeds United’s top goalscorer this season. The goals
are a handy bonus, but the fact he’s been trusted with the captain’s armband in
recent weeks is of far more significance. You have to say, it really suits him.