Sunderland players and fans endured another frustrating evening on Tuesday night. Table-topping Leicester City came to the Stadium of Light and left with a one-nil victory. Sunderland’s first-half performance was poor, to say the least; however, after the break and with changes made, The Black Cats were unlucky not to salvage a draw.
With Sunderland’s season beginning to peter out, injuries to key players such as Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts and several players out of form, it is now time to give some other squad members a run in the team.
Time to Give These Sunderland Players a Run in the First Team
Chris Rigg
16-year-old Chris Rigg started his first game for Sunderland against Leicester and when he came off late in the game, he was rightly given a standing ovation. Playing on the right of midfield, his energy and determination was a bright spot in an otherwise dull first-half performance from the Black Cats.
With Sunderland’s midfield struggling in recent weeks with form and injuries, Despite his young age, Rigg made an excellent case to be given an extended run in the starting 11 and few could argue against it.
Mike Dodds, Sunderland’s interim head coach was delighted with what he saw of Rigg on Tuesday. He said: “I knew he would give us absolutely everything, and that’s why I thought it was a really good game for him, because we needed everyone to empty the tank. I just felt that, in the second half, he was so effective, I left him on for as long as I possibly could, taking into account that he’s a first-year scholar. People should be excited by Riggy”.
Adil Aouchiche
Attacking midfielder Adil Aouchiche has shown glimpses of what he is capable of since arriving last summer from French side Lorient; however, he has found regular appearances hard to come by. The 21-year-old French youth international came on as a second-half substitute against Leicester and had his most impressive outing for the Black Cats.
Aouchiche became the heartbeat of the team as they pressed for an equaliser, creating several openings and took over as set piece taker which also caused problems for the City defence.
After the game, Sunderland’s interim head coach Mike Dodds said this of Aouchiche’s performance: “I thought Adil was excellent when he came on. We’ve got Adil in a good spot in terms of his concentration, and I said to him after the game, ‘You’ve got to stay on this path now – you can’t come away from the direction you’re going’. I was really happy with Adil and the impact that he made coming off the bench.”
Nazariy Rusyn
It came as a surprise when Nazariy Rusyn was dropped in favour of fellow striker Luis Hemir who has struggled to impress since moving to Wearside. Rusyn, however, has impressed with his work rate and his ability to play in several attacking positions when he has been selected. With the Black Cats selecting to rotate their strikers, the Ukrainian has found himself in and out of the team.
Sunderland’s lack of goals from their strikers isn’t new news but from the four who have played, Rusyn has looked the better and has scored two crucial goals despite there being a language barrier between himself and his teammates.
Even though he has scored just two goals, these came in a win against Preston and the 1-1 draw at Middlesbrough. It has been his willingness to work hard for the team which has given fans the belief that he should be the player leading the line for the remainder of the season.
