Senior Communications Officer Tom Loakes (@TomLoakes) looks at the impact Matej Vydra has made in a Derby County shirt this season; going from a player on the fringes a year ago to a vital cog in Gary Rowett's side.
If there were questions being asked of Matej Vydra ahead of the start of this season, he’s answered them in emphatic fashion.
The 25-year-old forward has been in outstanding form for Gary Rowett’s side and he has played an integral part in the Rams’ surge into second place.
Rowett recently spoke to RamsTV’s lead presenter Owen Bradley in an extended interview about his desire to get the best out of his players.
“When we looked at our squad in the summer, we knew that if we managed to maximise a lot of the parts then we could at least be in with a shout of competing at the top end of the division.”
Rowett doesn’t want to keep dipping into the transfer market and continually increase the numbers at his disposal. He clearly takes great pride in maximising the potential of his players.
On the face of it, Derby’s number 23 is a prime example and the Rams are seeing the best of him.
Derby’s style of play suits Vydra. Vydra suits Derby’s style of play.
His thumping finish the recent 3-0 victory at Birmingham City took his tally for the season to a very healthy and impressive 16 in all competitions.
Fifteen of his goals have been scored in the Sky Bet Championship. When you throw his three assists into the mix as well, no player has been involved in more goals in this division than Vydra at this stage.
Rowett stated earlier in the campaign that he felt he had the best ‘number 10’ in the Championship and, with the statistics to back it up, it’s hard to disagree.
Impressively, Vydra has scored his 16 goals from 23 shots on target. He’s lethal in front of goal and you wouldn’t back against him beating the 22 goals he scored for Watford in 2012/13, his best season in front of goal so far.
It’s some turnaround for the Czech Republic international forward and he deserves a huge amount of credit for it as, by his own admission, his first season at Pride Park Stadium was a challenging one.
He joined Derby from Watford last August under Nigel Pearson and was a regular in the side early on, hitting the back of the net twice in three games against Blackburn Rovers and Reading before the October international break. Steve McClaren’s arrival and subsequent switch to his preferred 4-3-3 formation benefited some players but, unfortunately, it wasn’t a system best suited to Vydra’s qualities.
Chances in the starting line-up were few and far between during the winter months and Darren Bent’s red-hot form in the central striker’s position, followed by the arrival of David Nugent in the first few days of 2017, meant the majority of his outings came off the bench.
Rowett’s arrival last March prompted the start of a new dawn for Vydra.
You could argue that was a turning point for him; but he hasn’t waltzed into the side – he has had to earn his place.
He scored in Rowett’s first game in charge, in the 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest, and followed it up by firing home the only goal as Derby defeated Queens Park Rangers to hand Rowett his first win as the Rams’ boss two weeks later.
He showed glimpses of what was to come in the ‘number 10’ role and certainly provided his manager with food for thought for the future.
Vydra missed the majority of Derby’s pre-season programme due to injury and with Chris Martin and Andreas Weimann returning from their loan spells away last season, as well as the signings of forwards Tom Lawrence and Sam Winnall, some would have been questioning where he fitted in Rowett’s plans.
As I stated earlier in this piece, he suits the style of play and his overall contribution has been impressive to say the least. In many ways, it’s underestimated from the outside looking in.
Here’s why.
Yes, he’s getting the goals and having a say at the top end of the pitch. His link up play with David Nugent has been exciting and he’s also shown a good understanding with Sam Winnall and Chris Martin when they’ve started up top as well.
It’ll be interesting and intriguing how quickly he forges an understanding with new signing Cameron Jerome. I would imagine it won’t take too long.
It shouldn’t go unnoticed, which I think it does at times, that he is defending from the front and working incredibly hard.
The old cliché about attack being the first line of defence is exceptionally true. Ask any of the Rams’ defenders, who pride themselves on clean sheets, and they’ll tell you the frontmen play a big part in those shut-outs.
He’s more than just a forward and Derby’s success so far this season has been based on being a team.
Vydra may grab the headlines for his goals but his overall influence has been about so much more than that. People from the outside might see him as a luxury player, only putting in the effort from an attacking perspective, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Whisper it quietly, but Derby have got themselves in a fantastic position in the table and have established themselves as a genuine promotion contender. No-one is getting carried away and know-how at this stage is something the Rams have in abundance in the squad.
Vydra has a lot of experience for his age and, crucially, he knows what it takes to get out of the league. He helped fire Watford to promotion back in 2014/15 with 16 goals. He bagged four in the last six matches of that season; stepping up to the plate and delivering when it really matters.
There’s a long way to go yet this season but, one thing is for sure, Vydra will have a big part to play.
