The club has gone from padding out the bench with promising under-21s to a situation where experienced full internationals will have to settle for pulling on a substitute’s bib on match day. We have already seen how having genuine options available has affected the thinking of Régis Le Bris – even this early in the season, it is apparent that he is willing to make more changes, and earlier in the game.
But who will make the cut when it comes to selecting the 20 players to include on the team sheet?
Let’s first assume everyone is fit and available and examine each area of the squad in turn.
Goalkeepers – Robin Roefs, Anthony Patterson. Roefs is already establishing himself as No. 1. It would be a huge risk for the usually conservative Le Bris to go into a game without a second keeper, so both would occupy the first two places. Beyond that, the situation quickly becomes more complex.
Defenders – Trai Hume, Lutsharel Geertruida, Nordi Mukiele, Dan Ballard, Omar Alderete, Arthur Masuaku, and Reinildo Mandava would surely be in the queue ahead of the likes of Luke O’Nien, Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese, or Leo Hjelde. But will there even be room for all those seven full internationals in the squad?
Midfielders – Granit Xhaka, Habib Diarra, Enzo Le Fée, Noah Sadiki, Chris Rigg, and Dan Neil are the obvious candidates, and, barring injuries or suspensions, I can’t see anyone being involved beyond those six – it remains to be seen if Le Bris feels he needs all of them as options for every game.
Wingers – Simon Adingra, Chemsdine Talbi, Bertrand Traoré, and Romaine Mundle are competing to provide width. But they could also find their places under threat from two of the striking options. Their chances of being involved may be improved by Le Bris’s favoured tactic of stretching opposing defences late in the game.
Strikers – Eliezer Mayenda, Wilson Isidor, Brian Brobbey. Both Mayenda and Isidor can also operate effectively on the wing, and Le Bris may prefer their versatility to one of the out-and-out wingers.
In summary, that gives two goalkeepers, seven defenders, six midfielders, four wingers, and three strikers – 22 players, all genuine options, fighting for one of only 20 match-day shirts. Simon Moore, O’Nien, Cirkin, Alese, Hjelde, and Harrison Jones are unlikely to be getting their boots dirty on a weekend.
Of course, there will always be injuries and suspensions, which will limit the difficult choices that Régis Le Bris and his coaching team will have to make. But it is a measure of just how quickly the squad has developed that not a single player who celebrated on the pitch at Wembley is guaranteed a starting spot this season.
In fact, what would have been unthinkable just weeks ago now becomes entirely plausible. As soon as Régis Le Bris feels that the new arrivals are ‘connected with the group’, we could see a starting XI that consists of:
Roefs, Geertruida, Mukiele, Alderete, Reinildo, Xhaka, Diarra, Sadiki, Talbi, Adingra, Brobbey
All the Wembley heroes who remain in contention in the Premier League incarnation of Sunderland could feasibly find themselves on the bench, such has been the transformation of the playing staff.
I am not going to try to pick which of the 22 I have identified I would leave out when match day rolls around – it will be interesting to read the thoughts of others!
