Since signing Mundle, it’s become clear that he’s a very talented young man.
He has all the skills you would want from a winger: pace, directness, dynamism, power, with the dribbling and finishing ability
to top it off. Goals against Preston, Luton and Burnley highlighted his explosive and impressive wing play, but that said, he’s by no means the finished product. He still has a way to go and lots of potential to fulfil.
He’s had a few knocks since joining, but this is his first major setback.
It’s been 131 days since the injury and it was bittersweet that it came during pre-season — the sweetness being that he’s missed less football than he would’ve done had this injury occurred during the season, but the bitterness being that he didn’t get a proper pre-season under his belt.
He played twenty times last season, scoring five goals and assisting twice, so Régis Le Bris clearly took a liking to him and this season could’ve been his for the taking.
If he hadn’t picked up this injury during the summer window, perhaps we might not have signed the attacking options we did.
Of course, Mundle was just as unproven a Premier League footballer as the rest of the squad last year, which we took steps to address. I’m not saying that we wouldn’t have signed the likes of Chemsdine Talbi, Simon Adingra or Bertrand Traoré and placed our faith in Mundle, but it would’ve been interesting to see if our incomings might’ve been different if Mundle was raring to go at the start of the season.
In my opinion, he isn’t a starting Premier League winger, but there are definitely worse options to have on the bench and I can absolutely see him causing defenders some serious problems — especially against tired legs.
That said, it isn’t an easy injury to recover from and for all we know, it could have affected his skill set and style of play. In fact, Sunderland posted a video on their YouTube channel a few weeks ago in which Jermain Defoe returned to the Academy and was seen talking to Mundle about the surgery and the difficult consequences of this sort of injury.
I think it’s also fair to take into account that our wingers have been playing well so far this season, but compared to our signings in other parts of the pitch, they might not have been as impressive.
For example, Adingra was firmly placed in the dog house after his lack of tracking back against Manchester United, getting hooked in the 37th minute. Le Bris has seemingly taken a shine to Traoré, giving him a secure spot in the starting line up, but genuine impact on the game has yet to be seen from him, so could Mundle force his way into the picture and give Le Bris a good problem to have? I think he has the ability to do so.
Another thing to consider are Mundle’s defensive capabilities. Especially away from home, he would be expected to be more defensive than attacking. He would need to prioritise helping his left back over running at their right back — but this could be new for Mundle and be difficult for him to adapt to; a possible barrier for him to get into the team?
I love Mundle and I have a genuine belief that he’s eventually capable of making the step up. Until then, I hope he recovers well from this injury and is a viable option off the bench — or in the starting eleven for the remainder of the season.
