View: 19-dribble prospect could overtake Jack Clarke impact at Sunderland
Sunderland ace Romaine Mundle can ultimately outshine the recently departed Jack Clarke following an outstanding start to the campaign.
Regis Le Bris’ side have demonstrated a significant improvement in performance levels in comparison to last season with largely the same squad, leading to the Black Cats claiming first place in the Championship after nine fixtures.
When the inevitable departure of Clarke was confirmed, many supporters were left questioning whether Mundle had the ability to step up and replace the role the now Ipswich Town winger occupied in the team
However, he has done that and arguably much more.
Sunderland legend Marco Gabbiadini argued that Mundle has the upper hand in attributes needed to be a successful winger.
Speaking on TotalSport, in quotes reported by the Sunderland Echo last week (4 October), Gabbiadini said: “In many respects, his wing play is better than Clarke’s. Whether he’s going to be as good a goalscorer, I don’t know. But I think his wing play is better because he can go both ways, and he just has that little bit more pace to go on the outside.”
Have Sunderland upgraded on Jack Clarke with Romaine Mundle?
First and foremost an interesting point to make is that Spurs allowed the initial sale of Clarke due to the fact they believed they had a better prospect at the club already. That prospect? Mundle.
Mundle has been exceptional this season and with 19 completed dribbles so far, he is one of the highest-rated players in the division when it comes to that attribute, in accordance with FotMob.
That equates to 2.79 completed dribbles per 90 minutes, which was bettered by Clarke in his two games for the club this season, averaging 3.52 per 90 – the caveat of course being the much smaller sample size.
One key attribute that Mundle blows Clarke out of the water for, however, concerns his defensive work which, in Le Bris’ system, is arguably just as important as his offensive stats.
In terms of tackles won per 90, Mundle averages 0.88 in comparison to Clarke’s 0.5 and similarly, Mundle is averaged to be beaten by a player going past him just 0.44 times per 90 minutes whereas Jack Clarke in the same time frame is beaten twice.
It’s hard to to argue against Clarke having the upper hand on Mundle when it comes to pure technical ability, however in the current system, Mundle may be the more effective player and with the current season being Mundle’s first real involvement in men’s football, the winger looks likely to be a long-term upgrade on the now Ipswich man.
In other Sunderland news, Sunderland Women will be due a tidy influx in finance ahead of a record-breaking encounter against Newcastle United
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