Was that from a Roberts shot ? I thought it was Mepo and it was past him ( or Cirk ) within a millisecond.
Doesn’t look too upset to be fair and apparently his Dad has said “he’s fine” on FB or some social outlet. Fingers crossed it’s nowt serious
Dan Neil has played the best football of his career this month. Many of our fans need to get past what they think a "Defensive midfielder" is and realise that Dan brings more to the position than most traditional "holding midfielders" ever could. He's learned how to sit and screen, he excels at dictating the tempo of our game and his ability to exploit the space left by our more attacking midfielders is exceptional.
He has been beyond immense. He is carrying the ball better as well, seems to be darting into gaps with the ball a bit and finding the pass. I ****ing love the lad, he is quality.
https://www.sunderlandecho.com/spor...ssion-and-compares-chris-rigg-to-amad-4923236 Sunderland man Patrick Roberts makes Danny Batth admission and compares Chris Rigg to Amad Patrick Roberts has paid tribute to former Sunderland teammate Danny Batth - and has admitted taking his shirt after the game against Blackburn Rovers.... “He's a good friend of mine since I arrived, and I've got Danny's shirt (after the game),” Roberts said post-Blackburn Rovers. He's a good lad. He's a good mate of mine. Playing for him when we both came together in League One and obviously the following season. It's good to see him still out there, being a big block at the back. On days like this, I wish he'd been a bit worse. “He's a good boy. He's one of my mates in football. It was nice to see him again. He got a good reception, I think, before the game, which was nice. I didn’t see the moment at the end with our fans but that is nice. He got Player of the Year, I think, that season. He was a good player and still is a good player. It was nice to see him again.” Roberts enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Amad Diallo two seasons ago with the Manchester United man lighting up the Stadium of Light during a loan spell under Tony Mowbray. Since his return to Old Trafford, 17-year-old Chris Rigg has stepped into Amad’s shoes to link up with Roberts and Trai Hume on the right-hand side of Sunderland’s attack. “He was always destined for great things,” Roberts reflected on Amad. “It was a joy to play with him but as Sunderland will do, he's the next person in line.You've got Chris Rigg, a young boy. He's not even 18 yet. He's got all the attributes to go on to do great things as well. "It's just nice to play with these players. They're both different, but you learn off that. You learn their different ways and different types of players, but it's the same quality. We'll see. He's just a different player, but it feels the same. It's good. “It's a bit different. It's a different type of player, but the quality is still there. With Trai, I've played with Trai for a couple of seasons and I know his game. I'm always helping him out defensively, which he needs from me. But he'll just smash someone, so it's fine anyway. Both ends, attacking and defensively, we try and help each other out as much as possible. “I know he's going to be on the overlap and I always know Riggiy’s inside, and Trai’s around me. It can be quite hard if teams are very aggressive, but if I have time on the ball, it's things I look for. They're always there to give me options and it's great to play with. Hopefully, we can keep that going for the rest of the season.”
Well said mate. Drives me mad when folk say he isnt able to play the holding role. I think he is tailor made for it. The days of a Cattermole type being right for us are long gone imho. We need a footballer, not a tackler in that role. Look at the mess Man Citt are in since Rodri got injured. Neil plays in a similar way to Rodri. Always open for the ball, half turn play is as good as any, touch is class, passing is elite level stuff and he knows instinctively when to keep it simple or when to play the incisive pass. He sees the entire game, not just what is in front of him, because he never stops scanning. It is his in possession game that has been eyecatching recently. I dont think there has been much wrong at all with his out of possession stuff to be honest. That looks to be the result of a tactical tweak by Regis. I see Jobe and Neil now alternating between the 8 in possession. They both go to a 6 when out of possession. Since Jobe has come back from suspension he has been much more willing to sit in and release Dan. It works so well as they can alternate making the long running phase. I am convinced one of the coaches worked with Jobe on this during his absence. Back to Rodri he is the perfect example of a 6 who reads the game well enough to play the 8 role in a passage of play. It is where so many overloads are made. Dan is clever enough too, and having a teammate to secure things allows him to make that brilliant run beyond Roberts to cross for our first goal. He seems to be really developing his captaincy too. I saw him giving Mepham some detail before the second and Mepham taking it all in. Little bits like that are a good sign from a very young captain.
Bravo mate couldn't agree more about DN. He has the potential to be a top DM and to be honest sometimes I think our fan base forget how old some of these players are. You do not see many young and accomplished DM across football because of how difficult a position it is to play. Rodri has just won the Ballon D'or and to be honest a few more should have won it over the years. Kate won the premier league with Leicester yes Leicester the following year he was at Chelsea guess who won the league that year. Look at Roy Keane and Viera in their prime or one of the most underrated midfielders I can remember in Michael Essien. These players were instrumental in forging a path for their teams and DN is starting to show what he can do at 22 years old which for me is astonishing and in 2 or 3 years time I hope we are watching his career with pride whether he is with us or has gone to pastures new.
