Mike Dodds has been outlining where Callum Styles will fit in his Sunderland plans.
Mike Dodds acknowledges he is still deciding how to best integrate Callum Styles into his Sunderland lineup, but he saw some positive signs even in the defeat to Norwich City.
The Hungarian international has already demonstrated his versatility in his first two outings after joining the club on loan from Barnsley in January, starting at left wing back against Swansea City and moving to right wing at the weekend.
While the interim head coach admits the latter experiment did not produce the results he had hoped for, he did see some hopeful moments. And he made it obvious that Styles will likely play a variety of roles between now and the end of the campaign. “We’re still getting to know Callum, I’ll be honest with you,” he remarked.
“He has excellent technique; he played in a variety of positions while at Barnsley. He played left back, left wing back, and as an eight. He went on loan to Millwall, where he played primarily on the left side.
“We utilized him off the right, but in a very narrow position in and out of possession, because of some of Norwich’s ball threats, and we also thought he could pick up some dangerous positions when we had it. The game’s positive aspect was that we did this occasionally, albeit not frequently enough. I saw some of what we worked on. Callum, fortunately or unfortunately [for him], is quite versatile, and as a head coach, such players were invaluable. You can put him in a variety of positions on the pitch, and he is a great child who asks a lot of questions.
To be honest, I’m not sure what his best position is right now; I know where he’s played before, and we need to figure out how to best use him here.”
Sunderland have the option of making Styles’ move permanent during the summer transfer window.
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