As we sit looking up at the rest of the table, it’s fair to ask why.
Either the recruitment has failed, or the coach is at fault. If the players lack confidence, make basic errors or are simply out of form, it’s the coach’s job to correct it.
Starting with recruitment, let’s look back at the summer’s business. Most supporters seemed to agree on what we needed: a left back, cover for Granit Xhaka, a right and left winger, a third forward and possibly a centre half.
Left back and Xhaka’s backup? Check,
and it looks like we have a real find on our hands with Jules Ahoka. A central defender? Success again, and we collected an unexpected bonus in Thomas Meunier.
The recruitment team succeeded with the acquisition of a left winger but failed to secure someone to operate on the right. I’m not going to criticise the failure to find someone ready to play an understudy role to Brian Brobbey, as that was always a big ask. We brought in one for the future in Juan Angulo and realistically, that’s all we could expect.
So, ultimately we failed with the right winger, that’s all. The key question is: would Regis Le Bris have played with two wingers if they were available? I have my doubts.
A quick review of our ten most expensive signings shows four of them are wingers (Malick Fofana, Simon Adingra, Nilson Angulo and Chemesdine Talbi).
All are still on the club’s books, with Talbi recording the most Premier League starts with twenty to date. Adingra (ten starts) has been shipped out on loan and there’s obviously an issue with Talbi. This leaves Angulo (sixteen starts) as the only one consistently getting a game, as Fofana has hardly featured in the league.
Some might point to inexperience, but the evidence shows otherwise. Around 30% of current Premier League footballers are under twenty three, so age is not the issue. Angulo appears to be the current favourite for the left-wing role but is the most inexperienced.
Adingra had over sixty Premier League appearances and was an Ivory Coast international when he joined Sunderland. Talbi was less experienced but a Moroccan international with thirty appearances in the Belgian Pro League. Fofana had made over fifty appearances in Ligue 1 and a further fifty in the Belgian Pro League to his name when he was recruited.
Four wingers at a combined cost of £92 million, with one a regular starter and the rest bit-part players, is not a good return. Nine games in, Fofana is still not a regular starter, and his situation has finally convinced me the ongoing problem with our wingers isn’t recruitment — it’s the coach.
It’s true that Fofana has been asked to rapidly bed in with a new team and get used to a radically different league, but I’m sorry, that’s the nature of the beast. On a human level, football is a brutal game and whatever the circumstances, players have to step up and perform. It’s that simple.
Arsenal were apparently interested in Fofana’s services.
Crystal Palace certainly were, so what’s happened and why is it not working? Sorry, but that’s down to the coaching and/or tactics. Again, I’m being harsh but I suspect Régis Le Bris’ current tactics would make Jeremy Doku look average.
Now to midfield — the nub of the issue.
Xhaka has been poor and that in turn has dragged down the performance levels of Noah Sadiki in particular, but also Enzo Le Fée.
I am going to given the recruitment some criticism here and suggest they should have been ready for that possibility given Xhaka’s age and the impact of the Chelsea nonsense. They should have had a ready-to-go replacement. That said, Ahoka should be getting more game time, and that’s down to the coach.
Finally, there is the defence, and I don’t believe there’s been a failure of recruitment there.
We have five proven central defenders and one (Meunier) who could play there if needed. It’s true one centre half has a relatively long-term injury and two are badly out of form, but how many centre halves are we expected to carry in the squad? Is poor form down to the recruitment or the coach?
Some might claim we lack flair players, but I disagree.
First, as evidence to the court, I present Le Fée — enough said. I’ve already covered the winger situation, but to compound the baffling Talbi exclusion, he’s shown that he can be a threat when used as an attacking ten, and Chris Rigg could be a lot more expansive if given the opportunity.
Habib Diarra would be classed as a ‘flair player’ if he could play more than five minutes without breaking down. As our most expensive player, I assume the coach had a significant input into his signing, so if he were available, where would he play?
We’ll have to wait and see what happens if Diarra is available for an extended period, but currently I don’t see Le Bris using him in the free-flowing attacking role that plays to his strengths.
For example, I suggest Diarra could play as an attacking ten. He could be a Kevin Phillips-type ten, playing off a big man (not quite as tall as Niall Quinn but about twice as wide). It would mean moving Le Fée but it would be an option, and Talbi could even fill that role as a backup.
Can I see Le Bris considering such an admittedly radical option, or any other option that diverges significantly from the current team structure? No, and that’s a problem. Something needs to change because if he persists with the current approach, it’s not going to end well.
To be fair to the recruitment team, the options are there but most involve more than minor tweaks. Can Le Bris find the answers? I really hope so, and he certainly deserves the backing to try.
