Brian Brobbey’s former manager tells Sunderland what not to do with ‘vulnerable’ striker
Brian Brobbey has endured a miserable time at Sunderland so far.
Sunderland signed Brobbey on deadline day and signed a five-year contract with the Stadium of Light outfit.
Regis Le Bris has handed the Dutchman three appearances in the Premier League so far, but he has been unable to disrupt Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda’s position in the team.
He has appeared for a total of 57 minutes for the Black Cats so far, since moving to Tyneside from Ajax.
Sunderland told how to avoid Brian Brobbey injury
Brobbey’s physicality will be one of his biggest assets for Sunderland, but they have been warned that it could also be his downfall.
Former Ajax boss John van ’t Schip, who worked with the striker in the 2023-24 campaign, has told the Mackems that he should avoid the weight room.
Speaking to Rondo, via Ajax Showtime, he said: “Only in the last three or four months [of van’ t Schip’s Ajax stint] did he have constant complaints. He could play for thirty minutes, then not, then sixty minutes. He’s a bit vulnerable physically, that’s the only downside,”
“You shouldn’t take him to the weight room. He has strength, but I think it’s more about his muscle structure and flexibility. He has so much power that things sometimes go wrong for him.“
Brobbey needs to hit the heights at Sunderland
The Black Cats paid an initial £17.3million for the Ajax star, with the potential for that to rise above the £20m mark in the future if he hits certain targets.
- Brobbey has missed 78 games since the 2019-20 season
- The majority of those have been through muscle injuries
- The SR5 outfit need to keep him fit, so he can challenge Isidor and Mayenda
He needs to justify that fee, and contribute in front of goal to help Le Bris’ side stay in the top-flight, which is looking like a realistic aim right now.
As the campaign progresses and he gets used to Sunderland’s tactics, he will likely be handed more chances to impress, and he needs to take them to force his way over the other strikers in the pecking order.
The last thing that he needs is injuries hampering his time in the North East, so the club should probably listen to van ’t Schip’s advice, as he knows the player well from his time in charge of the Amsterdam club.
It could be the difference between survival and relegation back down to the Championship, if they can keep Brobbey fit and firing, and perhaps more importantly, injury-free.