Patrick Roberts at ‘last chance saloon’ at Sunderland ahead of Sheff Weds clash
Patrick Roberts has been the talk of the town at Sunderland throughout the majority of the current Championship campaign.
Sunderland have enjoyed a magnificent season so far, and despite two recent defeats, they are still in the race to achieve promotion back to the Premier League.
However, it is looking as though any success will need to be found through the playoffs with an almost unsalvageable gap starting to emerge from the leading two.
Throughout that time, Roberts has been a regular starter. The former City winger has been a joy to watch throughout his time on Wearside and played a crucial role in getting the Black Cats back into the Championship.
However, as the season goes on, more concerns are starting to emerge regarding his credentials to be a starting player for a side chasing promotion, and he may be approaching his last chance.
Sunderland need more from Roberts
It has been a mixed campaign for Roberts. After what was a remarkable start to the season, his contributions have been few and far between in terms of numbers, which in modern football, is quite valuable.
Roberts has seven goal contributions but only two goals, which has mounted the pressure on Wilson Isidor to be the only reliable goalscorer in this Sunderland team.
However, when teams find a way to nullify the threat of the Frenchman, the Black Cats are often left struggling to find where the goals are going to come from.
Eliezer Mayenda has been excellent when he has featured for the Mackems, but for one reason or another, his gametime has been severely limited in the last few weeks, with fans often questioning why he is forced to sit on the bench over Roberts.
Mayenda, despite playing nearly half the amount of minutes of Roberts, has two extra goal contributions, having also played in several unfamiliar roles across the season.
With Roberts’ last goal or assist dating back to Boxing Day of 2024, matched with the fact he has just two goals in his last 65 appearances, improvements are needed urgently.
Le Bris must make changes v Sheffield Wednesday
Sunderland have been far from their best for several weeks now, with several players starting to show signs of fatigue both mentally and physically.
Chris Rigg is one of those. There is no taking away from the fact that he has had a remarkable season for Sunderland, but as of late, he has failed to replicate those levels of performances, which at just 17 years old, is to be expected.
Le Bris simply needs to start rotating his side to ensure that everyone is fully fit and raring to go ahead of the final 12 games of the season.