Jason Sraha

A look at some of the best players I’ve seen in the past few years at either U18s or U23s level or currently playing in non-league who've either left a really positive impression or whose careers I follow with genuine interest to see how they're doing every week.

Player: Jason Sraha

Age: 19

Position: Centre-Back

Club: Barnsley

A defender who made a really good impression whenever I watched him last season was Jason Sraha.

Signed by Barnsley this time last year and unveiled alongside David Bremang (a powerful forward who made a similarly notable contribution in games which I saw), it didn't take very long whatsoever for Sraha's quality and composure to stand out.

Jason Sraha after arriving at Oakwell (Photo: Barnsley FC). 

Predominantly left-footed (although good with both feet), intelligent at reading a game and analysing the danger, possessing decent athleticism and with height also in his favour, he put in a decent display as Barnsley's U23s won at Sheffield Wednesday in October - memorable due to a massive thunderstorm just before the full-time whistle. He then followed that up in a defeat to Hull about a month later where he demonstrated enough quality to be remembered for a second time.

 

I've tracked his progress since those games, spoken to a few others about him, and when he went on loan to Guiseley in February, it didn't surprise me one iota that he made an immediate impact on his debut (versus Darlington) and even got straight into the National League North ‘Team Of The Week’; certainly not a bad way to mark your first ever appearance in men's football.

 

He appeared 13 times at Guiseley during which he played a part in keeping four clean-sheets - including one against Telford where Owen Mason (the best ‘keeper I've seen at North East Youth Alliance level) lost his water bottle at full-time and, overall, Jason again created that positive impression where he consolidated a place in the team, played every minute whilst he was there, and had people talking well about him.

 

Recalled by Barnsley when Martin Devaney took caretaker charge for the final few games of the Championship season, he was thrust into first team action and had two 90-minute outings in the defeats to Preston and West Brom.

 

He'll cherish the memories of pulling on the ‘Sraha 32’ shirt for the first time and walking out at Oakwell and the Hawthorns infront of thousands of fans and, with those little landmarks being the cherry on top of his other achievements over the past 12 months, it's fair to say he's progressing quite well.

I'm sure he was personally pleased with how things went after upping sticks from London to become ‘c/o Grove Street’ a year ago; I'm sure his family are immensely proud of his progress in the past 12 months - especially after his injury-hit season in his last year at Arsenal, and he's made a good impression upon quite a lot of people.

I still believe there's scope for Jason to become more physically imposing (something which will happen over time through lots of gym work, etc), but everything I've seen up to now suggests he's got the skill-set, technical intelligence and talent to do alright and become an established defender in the game. The fact he also had spells at both Arsenal and Chelsea in his academy days before joining Barnsley is also another little pointer towards that.

 

So stay humble, keep striving for more, maintain a good attitude and congratulations on a good season and I'm looking forward to watching you make another positive impression next year.