The Big Sexy Pirate is captaining the ship - Square Ball 5/9/23

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.