One Sunderland star was praised following the draw with Plymouth Argyle, but Regis Le Bris can still get more from him.
Sunderland were unable to capitalise on Sheffield United’s defeat at the weekend as Regis Le Bris’ side were held to a 2-2 draw.
In a game that will ultimately feel like two points dropped for the Black Cats, who conceded in the dying embers at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland were by no means at the races, and they didn’t deserve much more than the point against Plymouth Argyle.
Le Bris’ side struggled at the back-end, with Chris Mepham looking rather shaky at the back, whilst Wilson Isidor struggled to get a foot-hold of the game.
There were few positives to pick out, but one was the performance from Enzo Le Fee, however, the stats show that Le Bris still isn’t getting the best out of him.
Enzo Le Fee can offer more despite being ‘brightest’ player for Sunderland vs Plymouth Argyle
Once again, Black Cats loan signing Le Fee, who joined at the start of the January transfer window from Italian giants Roma, looked solid on the ball, fashioning chances left, right and centre.
In the game that saw him act as Sunderland’s ‘brightest’ player with the ball, he proved just why he has that pedigree that has landed him moves to the likes of Roma.
However, per SofaScore, the stats show that Le Bris still isn’t getting the very best out of him on the left flank, as whilst his passing was on form, managing 43 complete passes and gaining an xA (expected assists) of 0.26, his dribbling and crossing told a different story.
Just one of Le Fee’s 11 cross attempts were successful, and he didn’t manage to record a single dribble, all whilst losing the ball a staggering 27 times.
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Stats point towards exactly where Enzo Le Fee should look to be utilised
Since his arrival, there have been absolutely no doubts over the quality of Le Fee, who, when on form, can be head and shoulders above many players in the Championship.
However, as seen by his quality in passing, but his difficulties surrounding dribbling and crossing, there is little that makes him out to be a winger in Le Bris’ system, and the Plymouth Argyle game should simply be the end of the experiment of shifting the Frenchman out wide.
There are no doubts that Le Fee would thrive if played through the middle for the Black Cats, where there will be extra emphasis on his creativity and progressive play, something that Sunderland were missing against Plymouth Argyle.