RALPH Hasenhuttl insists that he is sure Lyanco will “come back even stronger” after the defender has impressed the boss with strides already made since arriving at St Mary’s. Speaking on Lyanco’s injury,
Ralph Hasenhuttl clarified: “(12 weeks is) the biggest range, like Jack Stephens I think he needed eight weeks to be then back fully fit. I’m always a positive thinking manager.”
At this stage of his English career, every game would have been one of rich development for Lyanco. Even if he was back by just eight weeks in the best case, the former Torino man would still have missed nine fixtures including the FA Cup fifth round versus West Ham.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “For me it was very, very nice to see how much he developed his game since he was here. When he was coming here, especially with the ball he had some deficits but he is getting better and better. More calm, more composed. We want to play football in some moments, we need to have centre-backs that find the red zone and are calm in possession and this is what he has learned, very quickly I must say, made big steps forward.”
Over a month after his debut at Bramall Lane, Lyanco impressed supporters with a much more composed performance during the 1-1 draw at Chelsea’s Stamford Bridge in the next cup round. It was that weekend where he was given his Premier League debut as a late substitute at Watford, and he has since appeared in every league match he has been available for.
Ralph Hasenhuttl continued: “He is physically a very good guy and the injury he got now was a very, very strange situation where he was pulled back and he couldn’t handle it so it was a bad step he made and was the reason why he got such a bad hamstring injury. But now I love his character, I love his way, how he behaves in the team. Everyone loves him in the club and this is the type of character and player that fits perfectly to us. I’m very happy from the development I have seen so far and I’m sure he will come back even stronger.”
Another factor that makes the loss a blow for Hasenhuttl is that Lyanco is adept in five-at-the-back defensive shapes as well as traditional fours, which the Austrian has this year liked to experiment with.
