Since arriving at the club for £10million, England’s former great midfield prospect, has sadly continued his Manchester City form: injured and in the shadows
There have been brief spells where Sunderland fans have seen glimpses of that great ability, but they’ve been all too fleeting for everyone involved.
When the 24-year-old penned his deal on Wearside, he was filling the boots of Ki Sung-Yeung, the South Korean who had been so central to so many of Gus Poyet’s best moments.
Unfortunately for Rodwell, he hasn’t come close to producing the same kind of quality. Forgetting the months Ki stopped bothering, he could be considered as the most influential player to have played for Sunderland since Kevin Phillips.
Those boots then, were big ones to fill, and it just hasn’t happened. It is worth mentioning that any player in the £8-13million price bracket these days seems to represent a big risk and more often than not is without reward.
Anyway, two years later, the club is where it is, which is in a very familiar slump. While Rodwell remains the could-have-been, injured and worse, still languishing in the shadows. Under Sam Allardyce and his ruthless pragmatism, Sunderland might just find the answer.
If the box-to-box role doesn’t work, it seems obvious with his height, athleticism, aggression and speed, that he should drop back to inject life back into an old and slow back four.
In fact it seems too obvious. Surely at this level it can’t be the case of a guy saying, ‘I don’t wanna play there gaffer’, like a sullen schoolboy on a freezing Sunday morning somewhere in County Durham.
For Rodwell and Sunderland, an answer needs to be found and fast.
The club is simply not big enough to spurn such money in the transfer market and Jack Rodwell has too much potential to wake up one morning in 2020 with less than 100 career games in the top flight under his belt.
Quite frankly, there is nothing to lose, Sunderland defensively can’t get much worse and Rodwell can finally find a regular place to shine in the starting eleven.
If Jack Rodwell the central midfielder isn’t working, let’s give the centre half a try.
