It has been 1368 days since Ross Stewart inked a permanent deal on Wearside and 641 days since his achilles injury – suffered during a match against Fulham at Craven Cottage – meant he would never play for Sunderland again.
Put another way, leading up to the summer transfer window, it had been around three and a half years since Sunderland AFC signed a striker – on a permanent basis – capable of scoring goals consistently. Utterly wild and a fact worth remembering alongside the successes, when any balanced assessment of club recruitment is undertaken.
True, during that time Ellis Simms briefly performed well but sadly disappeared almost as quickly as he arrived. Nathan Broadhead also excelled in League One when fit. However, the urgency with which many supporters had hoped the gaping Stewart-shaped hole would be addressed – on a more sustained basis – never seemed to chime with the same level of priority held by club chiefs.
Much frustration followed and the ‘striker situation’ became a millstone around Sporting Director, Kritsjaan Speakman’s neck – a constant talking point brought up when dissecting poor results and understandably regularly raised at supporter engagement meetings.
Problem solved?
Yet, here we are. It has taken much longer than any of us would have liked but we may just have found our man! A player signed on albeit (another) loan from Zenit (but this time with that all important option to buy!) appears to be at long last slipping comfortably into those metaphorical big shoes left behind by our once idolised Scot. In doing so he has helped fire the Rokermen to the summit of the Championship, and by a clear five points.
So, with Wilson Isidor, has Speakman finally solved the long-standing striker problem?
Well, the truth is it is early days. Very early indeed. But, it is hard not to get excited by what we have seen thus far. In fact it feels very easy to start chucking words like ‘cult hero’ around such is the positive impact he is having. Isidor is clicking at Sunderland. Goals, performances, and the beginnings of a love affair with fans – the holy trinity when assessing how a new player is bedding in…
It’s all there isn’t it?
And, in this moment it is simply fantastic to be a supporter of this football club watching Isidor and his teammates kick a ball around the pitch, especially when for large spells during the last campaign it was absolutely the opposite of that.
His arrival during the summer did not come with the fanfare of a ‘big money’ move nor with much expectation. Focus instead had been mainly on Alexandre Mendy whose own transfer to Wearside failed to materialise.
Yet, the ‘proven striker’ we all demanded may have been hiding in plain sight…
Its a striker who scores!
Held up by many during the summer as more a versatile attacker rather than a proven centre-forward, the 24-year-old Frenchman is now looking every bit the tried-and-tested striker we have been craving for.
He did not immediately get his chance in the lone striker role but since he did his four goals in six starts go a long way to tell us what he is capable of. That, of course, does not tell the whole story. These are not just snatched goals, poached by being regularly rooted in the box (which would still be a plus!). These are extremely well worked finishes earned by technique, great movement, pace and seemingly bags of talent. The recent volley against Oxford United and the winner against Hull City are a perfect example of that. Also, the runs Isidor is making when not in possession of the ball are causing defenders all kinds of problems. These are the sorts of runs that we have simply not seen any Sunderland striker make in recent times. If truth were told, since Stewart, Championship central defenders have typically been treated to a fairly easy 90 minutes from the majority of our centre-forwards.
Joe Gelhardt tried his best, Mason Burtsow simply was not up to the task, Nazariy Rusyn seems out of position when up front on his own and Hemir is perhaps best forgotten about. None of those referenced above have been able to ask questions of opposition defences consistently, if at all.
Eliezer Mayenda is perhaps a different proposition. But, we shall come back to him.
The stats
After his four starts, Isidor has already scored more goals than Sunderland’s entire group of centre-forwards last season. A low bar perhaps but clearly worthy of note. What is perhaps more interesting is for us to compare Isidor with one of the Championship’s current top scorers this season – West Brom’s Josh Maja.
A player we know well from his time on Wearside, Maja had endured a rather stop-start career following his departure from SR5 but since arriving in the midlands he finds himself currently the highest scoring centre-forward in the league with 7 goals to his name and an overall very impressive xG of 6.90.
The above football radar is a great pictorial representation of that the fact that despite Isidor’s comparatively fewer minutes played this season he is either matching, is close to levelling or is in fact exceeding Maja in many key areas.
Goal Threat
While Josh Maja has the more efficient NPxG (non-penalty expected goals) per shot (0.25) compared to Isidor’s 0.16, Isidor is ahead of Maja in the non-penalty goal rate (0.70) vs the Baggies marksman on 0.62, per 90mins. Isidor also has the slightly higher shot ratio (2.8) over Maja (2.7) per 90mins and in the shooting % too suggesting he’s a little more involved in seeking goal-scoring opportunities and a tad more clinical in front of goal based on minutes played.
Creativity & Ball Progression
Isidor is also arguably providing more support to his team mates by carrying the ball into the penalty box more often. Notably with a higher rate of related carries (0.87 compared to Maja’s none) and the passing % is again higher for Isidor (78.6) over Maja’s related stat (77.1). This possibly makes Isidor a touch more versatile in the build-up, showing an ability to contribute to his team’s attacking play even if not scoring himself. Albeit there is not much in it between the two.
Dribbling & Take-On Ability
In terms of dribbling, Maja has the slight edge edge here, with 0.6 successful dribbles per 90 versus Isidor’s 0.3 but again hardly enough to quibble about. Indeed interceptions and tackles are arguable tied too with Maja on 0.6 per 90mins vs Isidor’s 0.5.
Turnovers
Isidor does have a higher turnover rate (6.2 per 90) than Maja, perhaps indicating the Zenit loanee takes more risks in possession. It it could also suggest this is an area Isidor could perhaps improve upon going forward.
With all that said, what does comparing Wilson Isidor with one of the Championship’s current top strikers tell us about our own marksman?
Well, by holding Isidor’s abilities up against those of Maja it provides a great barometer. It helps us gauge exactly how great a talent we have on our hands here. While Maja has emerged as one of the most clinical strikers currently playing in the second tier (second in the league under the goals tally and top with an xG of 6.90) our former academy product has played nearly double the minutes of Isidor. You could also argue that irrespective of the lack of comparative minutes played, Isidor is matching (per 90mins) one of the leagues more efficient finishers in many of the most important metrics for centre-forwards.
More reasons to be cheerful indeed.
We should also mention that Aaron Connolly and Mayenda are looking like they can compliment Régis Le Bris’ methods this season and push Isidor all the way. Whilst Connolly is still waiting for his first goal, Mayenda has shown that he is an altogether different prospect to the one who struggled for game time last season. A quick word on Ahmed Abdullahi too, who signed from Gent in the summer. Whilst he came with a good reputation, his current injury and lack of experience would suggest he falls into the ‘work in progress’ bracket similar to Hemir and Mayenda.
But, all in all – and with eyes firmly focussed on Wilson Isidor – has Sunderland AFC finally solved their striker woes?
Let’s just say its looking very positive indeed.
Photo by Mark Fletcher via MI News & Sport/Alamy
