James McClean last night put himself front and centre in the national debate on who should take those cherished seats on Traps plane to Poland. His man of the match performance caught the eye and after netting his first premiership goal, we caught up with Adam Capper of Sunderland fanzine "A Love Supreme" to get a proper handle on how "The Cleaner" is getting on.
James McClean’s start to life on Wearside has begun to snowball after a string of fine performances and his first SAFC goal. When a player moves to the Premier League from a LOI club it’s fair to say that not much is expected. The small out lay required to bring these players in means that no one will lose sleep if it doesn’t work out – putting the onus on the player to force his way into the limelight. Originally a Steve Bruce signing, there was some doubt that The Cleaner would ever feature under MON but a long run of outstanding form in the reserves made him impossible to ignore. In O’Neill’s first game in charge and at 1-0 down McClean made his debut and with his first touch, beat his man and flashed over a cross that almost got us back in the game. It was the lift we needed and his direct style was what we had been missing before then – huge credit must go to the winger for our win in that game.
As a player he knows how to put pressure on a full-back, he knows when to run at them with devastating results but refreshingly he is more than happy to get his team mates involved when it could be more effective. He shows great positional awareness and an ability in the air but the most satisfying quality he has brought to our side is his desire to take responsibility, open his legs and play us out of trouble – he’s an old-fashioned winger, a bit like Duff…five years ago but with better crossing ability.
All these qualities were on show during Sunderland’s 4-1 win away at Wigan where he won the Man of the Match award and showed great determination to score his first goal on the follow-up after initially being denied. It’s still very early to tell but if The Cleaner can produce this form continually then he will surely become a constant fixture on the left wing for Sunderland.
