View: 100% Sunderland ace Dennis Cirkin is best player in Championship so far this season
Sunderland star Dennis Cirkin has been the best player in the Championship so far this season.
The former Spurs academy ace is one of several Black Cats players who has excelled under Regis Le Bris, with the left-back regularly earning his plaudits.
Cirkin has played a huge role in Sunderland’s emphatic start to the campaign, helping the Wearside club to keep six clean sheets while also registering two goal contributions, according to FotMob.
Dennis Cirkin is the best left-back in the Championship
The only concern that has ever been present about Cirkin, is his fitness levels and availability. He has often found himself nursing injuries and missing games as a result. However, so far this season, Cirkin has managed to stay injury-free and Sunderland have benefitted because of it.
His performance against Hull was just another to add to the long list of solid appearances and the defender contributed at both ends of the pitch.
Defensively, Cirkin was as impressive as ever. As per SofaScore, he won 100 per cent of his aerial duels as well as eight of his nine ground duels. Despite still only being 22 years old, the level of maturity in his performances is astounding and is a real asset to the Sunderland side.
Cirkin also contributes massively going forward which in the current system, is pivotal.
As seen in the above image, Cirkin often finds himself in an advanced area of the pitch which allows Sunderland to overload the opposition half and create more space for their creative players.
When Cirkin advances, it takes one defender away from Romaine Mundle making it significantly easier for the winger to create an opportunity.
Just demonstrating how important he is to the side, he has made 635 touches in the Championship this season. A stat that places him in the top 81 per cent of players.
Much of Sunderland’s success this season will be down to their ability to keep Cirkin fit, especially with the lack of natural replacements if he was to be sent from the squad.
In other Sunderland news, Darren Bent has spoken about the famous beach ball Sunderland goal against Liverpool that still gets tongues wagging.
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