We’ve all heard of “Where’s Wally?” but what about “Where’s Rodwell?”
This is the bigger question and probably the harder, especially to some Sunderland fans at the Stadium of Light and on social media.
Sunderland signed Jack Rodwell last summer from Manchester City for £10 million. After a decent home debut against Manchester United, in which he scored the equaliser as the Black Cats drew 1-1, he has fast become Sunderland fans’ Mr. Invisible.
This is by no means meant to be harsh, nor is it an attempt to make him a scapegoat, but there have been too many games this season in which unless you had seen the team sheet prior to the game, you’d have been hard pressed to say for certain that he was playing.
Rodwell started his career at Everton, making his debut in European competition coming on as a substitute against AZ Alkmaar at the young age of just sixteen. Rodwell went on to make 109 appearances in all competitions for the club, scoring eight goals. During his time at Everton he earned two of his three England caps.
In 2012 at the age of 21, Manchester City signed Rodwell for an initial £12 million. During two seasons at the Etihad, injuries, bad luck and management changes meant Rodwell managed only sixteen appearances in all competitions. He scored just twice, but also earned the most recent of his England caps during that spell.
In August 2014, Jack signed for Sunderland for £10 million, putting an end to his unhappy spell in Manchester and hoping to kick-start his career. Still only 24 when signing, the Sunderland faithful had their fingers crossed that they could have a very good player on their hands and they had bought him at a decent price too. But where has it gone wrong?
Does anyone know what he is? Does he? Is he a central midfielder? A defensive midfielder? Or even a central defender? Some Everton fans have said that this central-back is actually his best position in their view. During his time so far at Sunderland he has primarily been played as a central midfielder, be that in a 4-4-2, 5-3-2 or 4-3-3 formation. Maybe it’s just a case of right player, right club but at the wrong time, seeing as Sunderland are once again struggling at the wrong end of the table. With the North-East club not having vast amounts to spend in the summer on new signings, was Jack Rodwell the player that they needed at the time? Were they putting the pressure on him to perform beyond his capabilities?
There is no doubt that Jack Rodwell is a good player; you don’t make your debut at sixten, cost two clubs a combined £22 million and earn three England caps if you haven’t got something about you.
Unfortunately, so far his Sunderland career has been pretty much hit and miss, mostly the latter unfortunately, making 20 appearances and scoring 3 goals. But its the alarming way he seems to drift out of games that worry Sunderland fans and at 6 foot 2 inches he should not be going unnoticed.
WhoScored.com‘s analysis of his performances so far give him an average rating of 6.64 in the Premier League. For a midfielder, a tally of three goals and no assists in twenty appearances is worrying, and despite Sunderland’s dearth of quality up front, you might expect him to have set up a goal at some point in the campaign. An 83% pass success rate suggests that he has created well, but hardly any of those have been classed as ‘key passes’, which suggests he should have good defensive statistics. However, his tackling and interception statistics don’t really back this up; he makes an average of 1.7 tackles per game and 0.5 interceptions per game, both of which are low for a central midfielder.
Rodwell still has time on his side, unlike Sunderland who have only a handful of games left to save themselves from relegation, and the team and their fans need everyone on the pitch giving their all and not hiding. The performance on Saturday by the team during the 1-1 draw away at Stoke City was a definite improvement on some recent games, but with some very difficult games coming up, performances of the same ilk, if not better, are required.
All Sunderland supporters are hoping for at the moment is to beat relegation, with every player giving their all for the cause.
Hopefully, then Jack Rodwell can fulfill the potential that he undoubtedly has, and any phrases such as “Where’s Rodwell?” will be consigned to the past.
