Player Focus: Time for Morgan Schneiderlin to earn international recognition

Unsurprisingly, this has seen the Saints midfielder develop WhoScored strengths of ‘tackling’ and ‘interceptions’, both of which he’s deemed ‘very strong’ at, and rightly so. When compared to the aforementioned trio of Pogba, Matuidi and Cabaye, only Matuidi can match such WhoScored strengths and should Schneiderlin need to displace any player in the current France side it may well need to be the PSG ace.

The 26-year-old has become a prominent member of the PSG setup since signing from Saint-Étienne in 2011 and has been involved in all 13 of their Ligue 1 games this season, starting 11. His performances have helped the Parisian side rise to the top of the French league, with the defending champions the only team in France’s top tier yet to lose a domestic game.

Matuidi’s distribution when in possession stands him in exceptional stead, with the midfielder’s pass success this season sitting at a notable 91.3% – a better figure than Schneiderlin’s 87.3%. However, while the former excels when finding a teammate, the latter has been breaking up play more regularly, averaging 3.9 tackles and 2 interceptions per game compared to Matuidi’s 2.8 tackles and 1.9 interceptions per league encounter.

Moreover, Schneiderlin is currently making more clearances (2.2) per game compared to Matuidi (0.9), highlighting his success in removing the ball from danger on a more consistent basis. However, this may be as a result of the quality of PSG’s squad being higher than that of Saints and their insistence on passing the ball out of defence, not to mention the differing style of management between Pochettino and Laurent Blanc.

Nevertheless, for a player in his position, the deep lying midfielder tasked with breaking up play, it’s Schneiderlin that shines brighter than Matuidi, with the latter having made fewer interceptions and tackles combined (61) despite making two more appearances. This is further highlighted in Matuidi’s average rating of 7.21, a drop from Schneiderlin’s 7.4.

The Southampton star man may have his fair share of competition within the France national team, and yet more outside the squad when taking into consideration that Etienne Capoue, Geoffrey Kondogbia and Joshua Guilavogui all haven’t been selected for Les Bleus’ upcoming double header with Ukraine. Yet, Schneiderlin has proven this season that he’s deserving of a place in Deschamps’ squad and many wouldn’t begrudge him a spot in the team.

His performances on the south coast have been excellent upon Saints’ return to England’s top tier, with the club winning the adulation of the fans after their start to the Premier League this season. On this form, Schneiderlin is deserving of following in the footsteps of teammates Lambert, Lallana and Rodriguez in earning international recognition and becoming the latest Southampton star to be called up by his country.