Sunderland’s new Jeremain Lens is heading for the bench

Sunderland extended their run of matches without a win in the Premier League to seven after their 3-1 defeat to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon.

The newly-promoted side secured a comfortable win over the Black Cats, as they went 1-0 up after 17 minutes and had a three-goal lead in the match before the hour mark.

Action Images via Reuters/Paul Childs

A penalty from Enzo Le Fee came far too late in the day for Regis Le Bris‘ team to mount any real comeback against Frank Lampard’s men, before Omar Alderete’s red card essentially ended the contest.

It was not just defensively that the Black Cats struggled, though, as players like Chris Rigg did not do enough to contribute in the attacking positions.

Why Sunderland must drop Chris Rigg

The 19-year-old whiz was an incredibly exciting talent when he burst onto the scene as a 16-year-old in the Championship, but the club’s promotion to the Premier League came too soon for him.

Since the start of last season, the teenage attacking midfielder has scored one goal and provided one assist in 23 appearances in the top-flight for Sunderland, and neither of those came this term.

In the defeat to Coventry on Saturday, Rigg was selected to start on the right side of the attack for Le Bris ahead of the likes of Chemsdine Talbi, Malick Fofana, and Jocelin Ta Bi.

The left-footed attacker was withdrawn from the match before the hour-mark, though, after failing to score with any of his three efforts on goal and failing to create any ‘big chances’ for his team.

After Ta Bi provided two assists against Brentford in the same position in the previous match, Rigg should be dropped for the Ivorian youngster for the Premier League game against Chelsea after the Europa League clash with Dinamo Zagreb.

Worse than Rigg: 3/10 Sunderland star is heading for the bench

Rigg is not the only attacker who looks to be heading back to the bench, though, as Sunderland’s new Jeremain Lens was even worse than him against Coventry.

Lens was as exciting as he was infuriating during his time at the Stadium of Light, as the Dutchman scored four goals and provided three assists in all competitions in the 2015/16 campaign before being sent out on loan to Fenerbahce and Besiktas before being sold.

The Netherlands international had talent and could excite supporters with flashes of brilliance, but he lacked the all-round game and consistency to be a star on Wearside.

Nilson Angulo is in danger of following in his footsteps after a disappointing display in the defeat to the Sky Blues on Saturday, as he is another winger who is exciting and infuriating.

REUTERS/Rodrigo Antunes

The Ecuador international has provided one goal and two assists in 11 games this season, whilst completing 14 dribbles, and the Black Cats need far more consistency from his play in the final third.

In the defeat to Coventry, Angulo lost four of his seven duels, failed with two of his three attempted dribbles, only had one shot on goal, and did not create a single chance for the team.

He was even worse on the wing than Rigg because the Englishman, at least, won 100% of his duels, took more shots (three), and created more chances (one) in his time on the pitch.

The frustrating thing with Angulo, which is why he looks like the new Lens, is that it has only been two games since he created five chances, created one ‘big chance’, assisted a goal, and completed two dribbles in the draw with Lech Poznan.

Angulo is capable of producing impressive performances, as that Europa League showing proved, but he has yet to show the kind of consistency that Le Bris needs from him.

Therefore, the French head coach should drop him from the team for the upcoming game against Dinamo Zagreb in Europe, due to how poor his display was on Saturday.

Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith

The 23-year-old talent still has time on his side to develop and add consistency to his game, and he needs to do that if he wants to avoid becoming the next version of Lens on Wearside.