Sunderland journalist Phil Smith has been sharing his thoughts on Black Cats midfielder Elliot Embleton and his current role in the team.
This comes after Smith made an appearance on a recent edition of The Roar Podcast from the Sunderland Echo where he discussed a variety of topics surrounding the Wearside club.
After Sunderland’s recent 2-1 win over Accrington Stanley at the weekend where Embleton started the game before being taken off in the second half, Smith had this to say about the midfield man (9:37):
He said: “We look at Elliot Embleton, then you come away, okay, no goal or assist for Elliot today, but another good performance where he could and probably should have had two assists, went close to scoring and a couple of times.
“There’s something very, very [Aiden] McGeady [like] about Embleton, which, even when you don’t feel he’s right on top of his game, he still produces four or five moments within a game that could easily lead to a goal. It’s a really rare, rare skill that and it makes it incredibly difficult to leave him out of the team.
“I don’t think anyone could quibble with him being in the side at the moment.”
TIF Thoughts on Phil Smith’s comments on Embleton and his place in the team…
As a product of Sunderland’s youth system, the 22-year-old made his senior debut for the club back in December 2017 under former Black Cats manager Chris Coleman.
Taking into account how Embleton has two goals and two assists to his name already in League One this season and an overall season rating of 7.11/10, making him Sunderland’s third-highest rated player (all stats via WhoScored), it’s safe to say he has been an important player for the club so far this season and it’s easy to see why Smith thinks he has safely secured his place in the team for the time being.
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In our view, while he may not have scored or assisted against Accrington, the fact that Smith thinks this shouldn’t bring any doubt over Embleton’s place in the team shows just how useful he knows the player can be regardless.