The Sunderland persuasion knew this might happen: a conservative summer transfer window which has only papered over cracks in Regis Le Bris‘ squad could now jeopardise an ambitious and high-flying project.
There was hope before the weekend that Sunderland would rise up and perform against in-form Brighton & Hove Albion, but it proved a tough ask without Brian Brobbey at the front. The Black Cats forgot how to bite, creating only 0.72 xG (Brighton doubled that at 1.42).
Expected Goals (xG) is a metric designed to measure the probability of a shot resulting in a goal.
The Stadium of Light is supposed to be a fortress, and Sunderland will need their home ground to be impregnable for the most part if they are to avoid the pull of a relegation battle on their second season back in the Premier League.
They also need captain and commander-in-chief, Granit Xhaka, to step up and provide. He’s waned in recent games for the Wearsiders.
Why Granit Xhaka is becoming a problem for Sunderland
Xhaka has been an incredible signing for Sunderland, make no mistake about that. Last season, Wayne Rooney hailed him as “probably the signing of the season” after arriving from Bayer Leverkusen for £17m and leading Le Bris’ side away from the expected relegation dogfight and toward Europa League qualification.
However, that doesn’t mean the 34-year-old is immune from criticism, and while he has played with intensity this season, Xhaka has struggled to forge the same smooth partnership with Noah Sadiki beside him, and Sunderland are not firing on all cylinders.
Against Brighton, Xhaka was guilty of losing possession, sloppily, and allowing the Seagulls to break on a number of occasions across the afternoon.
He’s still a force, and calls for the Swiss skipper to be dropped are, frankly, a bit tone deaf. Sunderland need Xhaka, but they also need him to accept his ranged strikes are not paying off, and that perhaps there are better options than firing Howitzers so unrelentingly.
|
Xhaka with Sunderland in the Premier League |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Stats (* per 90) |
25/26 |
26/27 |
|
Matches (starts) |
34 (32) |
6 (6) |
|
Goals + assists |
1 + 6 |
0 + 0 |
|
Touches* |
67.5 |
79.0 |
|
Accurate passes* |
44.5 (84%) |
52.0 (85%) |
|
Big chances created |
9 |
5 |
|
Key passes* |
1.0 |
2.2 |
|
Possession lost* |
12.6 |
14.0 |
|
Succ. dribbles* |
0.3 |
0.8 |
|
Ball recoveries* |
4.7 |
6.2 |
|
Def. contributions |
4.9 |
3.7 |
|
Duels won* |
4.6 (60%) |
5.5 (61%) |
Xhaka needs to return to the basics, simplifying his skillset and playing with a more industrious edge. Then the Wearsiders might find their stride once again.
That said, Xhaka must be frustrated by the regularity with which is progressive passes prove unable to find an outlet. In attack, all is not well at Sunderland, and one player who isn’t playing is becoming something of a headache for Le Bris.
Rarely-seen Sunderland star is becoming a problem for Le Bris
Sunderland have now lost three successive Premier League matches. They fought tooth and nail across losses to Arsenal and Manchester City, but the home loss to Brighton felt underwhelming. Without Brobbey, they needed more in attack.
Indeed, Chemsdine Talbi has only played 31 minutes of football in the Premier League this season, and it does feel like the Moroccan winger could be better utilised.
Talbi, 21, scored a wonderful goal against Hull City in the Carabao Cup in September, a one-goal win, but he has not featured in the Premier League since the opening day of the campaign.
He has shown in a Sunderland shirt that he boasts the kind of natural ability that exists only within the skillsets of the select few. However, after coming close to joining Galatasaray this summer, now faces a strange situation in which the manager may continue to overlook him while Sunderland cry out for his qualities. He scored four goals and assisted one more across only 16 starts in the league last year, playing on the left wing and the right.
This summer, Le Bris questioned whether the Stadium of Light offers “the right pathway” for the mercurial attacker, but with Brobbey’s injury (and Wilson Isidor ineffectiveness in his stead) highlighting the problems Sunderland face in kindling their attacking system, Le Bris surely needs to muster all the forces available.
Talbi is a talented attacker, but he’s not getting the opportunities he needs to find confidence in the project and the manager and, importantly, himself.
Perhaps he will be shipped out in January, but Talbi has the quality to make a difference for this Black Cats team – and the fact he likely won’t showcase his finest self at the club is a big problem.
