Sunderland boss Mike Dodds has made a surprising claim about this 23-year-old Black Cats player.
Sunderland are in a poor vein of form right now, having lost their last four Championship fixtures.
Dodds has taken charge until the summer after Sunderland sacked Michael Beale last month, and he’s made some changes to the side.
His changes were exposed in the defeat vs Swansea City in his first game back in the dugout. Sunderland were then beaten 1-0 at Norwich City last time out, though it was a much-improved performance.
And one player who’s come into the fold under Dodds is Callum Styles.
Mike Dodds unsure about Callum Styles’ best position
Styles’ USP as a footballer is his ability to play in various positions; though mainly as a left wing-back or a central midfielder.
Styles has said himself recently that he believes his best position is more centrally, though speaking to Sunderland Echo journalist James Copley ahead of the game vs Leicester City tonight, Dodds says he’s unsure about Styles’ best position.
He said:
“For a coach, he is worth his weight in gold because you can slot him into different positions. Right now, I don’t know where is best position is if I am being brutally honest.”
Styles debuted against Swansea City at the end of last month and started in the left wing-back position but was brought off before the hour mark after a tough opener.
He then started on the right wing against Norwich City last time out, but often drifted in-field, allowing Trai Hume to overlap.
Poor planning has left Styles and Sunderland wanting
Sunderland had been eyeing Styles for a while before they managed to bring him in on deadline day this year.
He’s clearly a player that the recruitment team fancied and they arguably brought him in because of his ability to play anywhere on the pitch.
But Styles won’t want to be the utility man for Sunderland; playing one position one week and then another the next, depending on where he’s needed.
He’ll want to be playing in his favoured central midfield position but Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah have those positions locked down right now.
So for Styles, it seems like he might have to bide his time and wait for a chance to be deployed in the middle, and simply play wherever he’s needed in the meantime.
But for Sunderland, and for Dodds, it’s a difficult task trying to figure out where to best play Styles.
Dodds doesn’t know Styles’ best position yet and so it could take some more trial and error to properly figure it out, which may not help Styles settle into the team.
Sunderland return to action vs Leicester City in the Championship on Tuesday evening.