His introduction during the second half of Sunderland’s victory over Wolves injected some much-needed directness into our attack, and it was his driving run and unfortunately-intercepted pass (from the visitors’ point of view, that is) that gave us a 2-0 lead and ensured Vítor Pereira’s side would be heading back down to the Midlands empty handed, so all in all, you’d have to say it was a satisfying afternoon’s work for Chemsdine Talbi.
Omitted from the starting eleven as Régis Le Bris opted for the somewhat
‘safer’ option of Bertrand Traoré, Talbi nonetheless looked exceptionally lively when he came on, with his electric pace giving the Wolves backline some real problems. I felt it was somewhat harsh that he didn’t start the game, but as he so often does, Régis Le Bris turned to his bench later on and was rewarded.
Two things are true of the Moroccan forward signed from Brugge during the summer: he’s by no means the finished article and in terms of ‘ceilings’, his is exceptionally high.
All of the young prospects we added to the ranks during the summer were brought to Wearside in the hope that in time, they could become genuinely elite-level players. Some, such as Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra, have already stepped up impressively, whereas the likes of Talbi and fellow winger Simon Adingra have had to be more patient — and that’s fine.
One byproduct of our encouraging start to the season is that we’ve been blessed with more time and space to bed players in without the stifling pressure of needing them to work miracles. Structurally, Sunderland looked more than comfortable before Talbi’s introduction against Wolves, yet to be able to bring on a player of his calibre from the bench is the kind of option that many teams in this league would doubtless love to have.
Talbi is the latest attacker to find themselves on the development line at the Sunderland talent factory — and recent history tells us that the chances of success are very much tilted in his favour.
In the past three years, Sunderland have been able to showcase many examples of young, talented and raw wingers who’ve been turned into effective options at Championship level — Romaine Mundle, Tommy Watson and Jack Clarke — and there’s no reason to believe that Talbi can’t follow the same path, albeit in the knowledge that the Premier League is a much tougher school for up-and-coming wingers than the league below.
Based on what we’ve seen so far, the components for Talbi to become a genuine Premier League-class player are there, even if as part of an approach that’s arguably placed more emphasis on graft as opposed to dazzling wide play, he’s not been able to fully stretch his legs and cut loose. That said, Le Bris clearly values what he brings to the team and there’s no harm in carefully managing his minutes, either.
You may remember that when Clarke first arrived at Sunderland, his decision making was often erratic, his attacking play lacked consistency and subtlety and there were occasions on which you never quite knew what he was going to do next.
Mundle was once the same but has gradually smoothed off those rough edges, and when Watson kept his cool to slot the ball past Michael Cooper at Wembley, it was the hallmark of a player who “knew exactly what he wanted to do, and did it” — in the words of a former North East commentary great.
Thus far, I actually think Talbi’s discipline has reached an encouragingly high level (some of his defensive play has been relentless, as a matter of fact) and once he combines that electric pace with a keener eye for the final pass and greater potency when whipping in crosses from wide areas, there’s no reason he can’t begin to give opposition full backs real problems and start to mark himself out as a creative force in our team.
When analysing the impact made by Talbi and others, it’s important to remember that different footballers develop at different rates.
Some make an explosive impact from the outset and others take a little more time to find their groove, but I think there have been far more positive signs from Talbi than negatives. He’s in the perfect environment to learn and to continue to hone his game — which can only benefit us as the season unfolds — and I trust Le Bris and his coaches to oversee continued progress during his maiden English top flight campaign.
