O’Nien was quite a divisive figure among Sunderland fans last season.He featured 43 times in the Championship, playing at centre-back, and starting at centre-back vs Cardiff alongside Aji Alese, who stepped in for the injured Dan Ballard.
The 29-year-old O’Nien made the joint-most defensive actions of any player on the pitch (seven), including the most clearances (five), along with two interceptions Sunderland desperately lacked Championship experience last season, but they’ve since added some in their summer transfer haul.
Sunderland now have a few players like O’Nien, Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson and a growing number, who’ve played a lot of games for Sunderland.O’Nien is now Sunderland club captain with Sunderland making Neil team captain earlier this week.
O’Nien continues to show his leadership qualities on the pitch and against Cardiff he reminded everyone of his technical abilities, and his defensive abilities which have really come along in the past year.
Sunderland are next in action against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup next week.Mayenda’s Jobe Bellingham dropped back to his more comfortable midfield position, which saw a different Sunderland striker slot in and provide a ‘willingness’ on the front line and help the Black Cats to victory on the opening day of the campaign.
The Black Cats youngster was given praise for slotting into the side, with James Copley on X writing: “Not happening for Mayenda today but I’m hugely encouraged by his willingness to keep going.”Per SofaScore, the striker managed three shots, with two on target, however was unable to convert. The striker was given 72 minutes of game time before being replaced by Nazariy Rusyn.
There have been many doubts over the youngster’s ability to perform at this level, however he certainly showed signs of promise for sunderland that shows that he can be more than competent in providing a sufficient attacking threat early on in the season.
He may not have scored at the Cardiff City Stadium, however the ability he showed certainly trumped what both Hemir and Rusyn showed throughout the 2023/24 campaign.His pre-season performances have shown that he deserves a run of first-team games, and if he can build on his performance against Cardiff City, he could become a trusty asset a
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