Sunderland flop was compared to Zidane, now he's worse than Ba

Sunderland flop was compared to Zidane, now he’s worse than Ba

Sunderland’s season in the Championship has been nothing short of up-and-down so far, with many of the highs experienced by the Black Cats often then met with a new low.

Michael Beale’s tenure, in truth, has been extremely topsy-turvy ever since he left Scotland behind for a return to EFL management – his Sunderland side now winless in their last two, after previously going on an unbeaten stretch of three matches under his guidance in the dug-out.

It’s not just down to the divisive figure of Beale in the managerial hot-seat as to why Sunderland have underperformed at points however, with a number of exciting talents at the Stadium of Light failing to dazzle supporters with sub-par performances becoming commonplace.

That’s very much the case with this 21-year-old attacking midfielder, who has struggled to make the breakthrough into the first-team fold after being boldly compared to Zinedine Zidane before signing on the dotted line for the faltering Wearside outfit.

Adil Aouchiche’s first impressions

It’s fair to say that former Paris St. Germain youth product Adil Aouchiche has been hyped up throughout his career to date before making his move to Sunderland.

Likened to Zidane when first making waves at youth level for France by the Athletic’s Jack Lang, Aouchiche was being mooted as potentially being the next big thing – the silky 5 foot 11 midfielder bagging a ridiculous 16 goals from 25 international appearances for the U17s.

It is easy to see why Lang described him as being Zidane-esque back in 2019 when you consider that exceptional return in front of goal for his country at youth level.

Going on to cut his teeth whilst in the Saint-Étienne senior set-up away from setting the world alight at youth level – the dynamic 21-year-old amassing ten assists from 77 first-team appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit – Sunderland were giddy with anticipation as to what Aouchiche could achieve making the move to the Championship.

Unfortunately, the move hasn’t quite gone to plan for the ex-PSG wonderkid with his numbers for the Black Cats this season even putting him below Abdoullah Ba who is also notably underperforming at the Stadium of Light.

Adil Aouchiche’s numbers this season

Aouchiche hasn’t ever really been able to kick into gear for the stuttering second tier promotion hopefuls this campaign, showing brief flashes of his quality before fading back into the background on Wearside.

From 18 Championship appearances this season, Aouchiche has managed to pick up just one goal and an assist, with his last strike coming all the way back in October last year against Birmingham City.

Since then, the 5 foot 11 creator has struggled to hold down a cemented spot in the senior side with Beale only giving the Frenchman one start since coming in as Black Cats boss.

Ba, who has produced three goals and four assists in the league, has even managed to turn around his stuttering career at Sunderland whilst Aouchiche remains on the fringes, helping himself to a goal and two assists against Stoke City in late January whilst the former PSG starlet wasn’t even present on the substitutes’ bench.

The Black Cats number 22 did have a chance to turn around his underwhelming time in a Sunderland shirt to date against Ipswich Town recently, but awkwardly fluffed his lines on the big occasion.

He would end up dragging an effort wide that could have given Sunderland the lead at 2-1 before Ipswich ended up snatching the three points, cursing his luck in a dismal cameo at Portman Road.

Beale and Co won’t throw the £7k per week midfielder to the scrap heap just yet, but there is a long, long, way to go before he can be compared or likened to the legendary Zidane again.

He will need to improve his numbers in front of goal, drastically, to get compared to Ba, let alone the former Real Madrid star, before the end of his career at Sunderland.