Hansi Flick’s ‘Van Dijk apprentice’ Armel Bella-Kotchap impresses again for Southampton despite Villa loss
Southampton appear to have unearthed another gem, with 20-year-old summer recruit Armel Bella-Kotchap impressing in the club’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa on Friday night.
The precocious Parisian was tasked with the unenviable job of keeping a lid on an attacking trident containing awkward customers Philippe Coutinho, Ollie Watkins and Leon Bailey. For the most part, he stuck to the assignment well, but a moment of hesitation from the Southampton defence, allowed Jacob Ramsey to fire home just before half-time.
It will be another learning curve for the young defender in the Premier League as he continues to adjust and adapt to a new division, one notoriously as sink-or-swim as the Premier League that routinely separates the wheat from the chaff.
Find the latest Premier League relegation odds for the 2022/2023 season here:
| Club | Chance | Sky Bet | |
| Southampton | 78.08% | 2/5 | |
| Bournemouth | 55.98% | 4/7 | |
| Nottingham Forest | 49.83% | 10/11 | |
| Everton | 42.09% | 7/4 | |
| Leeds | 21.37% | 3/1 | |
| Wolves | 19.83% | 7/2 | |
| Leicester | 11.02% | 4/1 | |
| West Ham | 15.70% | 9/2 | |
| Crystal Palace | 6.10% | 5/1 | |
Probability % provided by Opta StatsPerform |
|||
You have to be 18+ to gamble. All odds within this article are accurate at the time of writing (07:00, 20/03/2023). BeGambleAware.
Here at Villa Park, Southampton were played off the park, but Bella-Kotchap’s composure on the ball and aggressive presence off it offered encouragement for Ralph Hasenhuttl, whose strategy to go after unheralded potential for sensible sums — rather than chuck substantial fees at recognised names — appears to be bearing fruit once again.
It would have perhaps come as a surprise to see Bella-Kotchap’s name included in the latest Germany squad for this month’s Nations League games, but those on the South Coast will tell you that their raw gem doesn’t look like a footballing pariah among Hansi Flick’s established superstars — he is one in the making.
And it makes sense that the talented tyro has made such an early impression in the division, given his education. While honing his craft for Bochum, whom Southampton prised him away from in the summer, he revealed that he used to study the playing style of former Saint Virgil van Dijk.
“I try to learn from different role models,” Bella-Kotchap told the Bundesliga’s website on his training methodologies.
Paddy Power betting offer: Bet £20 and get it back as cash if it loses
- Follow THIS LINK (or click the image below) to open a new account using promo code YSKWEX
- Deposit a minimum of £10 using a card.
- Place a Sportsbook bet up to £20 at min odds of 2.0 (Evs). For the purposes of this promotion, your first ever placed bet will be counted as the qualifying bet.
- If your qualifying bet is settled as a loser we will refund your stake in CASH (maximum £20).
- Qualifying requirements must be completed within 30 days of account opening
“I can see what they are particularly good at, and what I have to work on to play like them.”
On Van Dijk, he commented: “He has a pretty no-nonsense game, hard but fair.”
He will be disappointed by the score, but not by his own individual performance. The towering centre-back finished the game having made more clearances (six) and interceptions (five) than any other player on the Villa Park pitch. He also registered the most possessions won (12), and the most accurate passes (43).
