Three of Sunderland’s new boys made their full debuts against Hull City in the League Cup on Tuesday night, and although all three impressed me a considerable amount, there was one player who really stood out, and that man was Jules Ahoka.
The twenty-year-old had made just four senior appearances for Royal Antwerp before transferring to Sunderland in August, yet the fact that this was just his fifth senior appearance speaks volumes about the player he could be, and the stats back it up.
Ahoka took
seventy seven touches and made fifty out of fifty seven accurate passes within ninety minutes, which meant he had an eighty eight percent pass accuracy. As well as this, he won sixty four percent of his duels, with five being on the ground and four in the air.
He looks like a promising young player, a strong box-to-box midfielder, and I think he’s strengthened our already stacked midfield.
Ahoka is 6’3 and was very good in the box for Sunderland on Tuesday night, clearing nine balls and blocking a Hull shot at 0-0 that was going in if he hadn’t been there.
Watching him showed just what we’re missing: more height in the box, which in turn will make us a great degree more dangerous from set pieces, as well as sharper when defending them.
All in all, Ahoka was brilliant in cup action and I’m excited to see how he performs against Arsenal.
We already have depth and quality in that holding midfield role in Noah Sadiki and Granit Xhaka, with Ahoka looking likely to see a lot of minutes in the domestic cups as well. Being included in our Europa League squad, our midfield and team in general shouldn’t be stretched too thinly — especially with the six players we brought in over the summer.
Ahoka was a relatively unknown player and as previously mentioned, had only made four senior appearances and had supposedly been written off by neutral and rival fans before he’d kicked a ball for the Black Cats. However, after the shift he put in against Hull, I think he’s silenced a lot of doubters.
Let’s see what our new midfielder can bring to the table domestically and across Europe this season.
