A 281-day wait, 42 touches and two moments of class: Inside Will Grigg's frustrating yet promising Sunderland start

You have to go back to the 1-0 defeat at Gillingham on December 7, 2019 to find the last time the striker started a League One fixture for the Black Cats.

But that long wait was ended on Saturday, as Phil Parkinson handed the 29-year-old an opportunity.

Grigg’s impact, though, was minimal as he struggled to make a tangible impact on what quickly became a frustrating afternoon – both for the player himself, and on a wider scale.

The performance data from the game, however, pains a slightly different picture.

And thanks to WyScout, we've poured through the numbers and watched every one of Grigg’s touches, runs and movements during the 1-1 with Bristol Rovers to analyse why things didn’t quite click - and whether there is still hope that they can in the future.

The baseline data

A cursory glance at the stats doesn’t make for promising reading.

This wasn’t purely on Grigg’s behalf, either. Sunderland as a whole under-performed against Bristol Rovers – particularly in the final third, where they failed to make 25 attempts on goal cont.

But in terms of the striker, Grigg touched the ball just 42 times in the 67 minutes he was on the field, in comparison to the 66 involvements in play he had against Hull City.

Perhaps more concerning was the fact that Grigg was also unable to muster a single shot during the League One opener.

These statistics, though, only tell part of the story – and a deeper delve into the numbers and video clips sees a clearer picture emerge of how and why the striker failed to make a serious impact on the game.

The underlying statistics and a case for mitigation

‘Touches in the box’ is a hotly-debated statistic, given that they mean little if the ball does not end up in the back of the net.

But it provides a useful barometer for whether a player is finding himself in the right areas and indeed of the dominance enjoyed by a side.

That Grigg touched the ball in the opposition penalty area six times emphasised the superiority enjoyed by Sunderland during the contest – indeed, in contract, Bristol Rovers’ entire front three of Jayden Mitchell-Lawson, Sam Nicholson and Brandon Hanlan only mustered four touches in the penalty area between them.

So too does it suggest that the striker is keen to get into the right areas – even if that end product was lacking on this occasion.

Yet the major concern following the game was the service, or lack of it, that Grigg received.

It’s no secret that Grigg prefers playing off the shoulder of the defence, as opposed to with his back to goal – but in Phil Parkinson’s system, the striker is expected to do a great deal of the latter.

So a possible explanation for his lack of involvement against Bristol Rovers was the fact that over half of the passes that came into the striker found him with his back to goal.

That’s not to say Grigg didn’t do good work when he received these balls. Indeed, on more than one occasion he managed to bring the lively Aiden O’Brien into play and create some meaningful opportunities. He provided two shot assists for his teammates, for the first time since the 5-0 win over Tranmere Rovers last season.

It seems, therefore, that the striker is adapting to his roles and responsibilities under Parkinson.

But it perhaps spoke volumes that two of Sunderland’s brightest moments came when Grigg was allowed to run into space behind.

Two moments of promise

When trawling through the footage of Grigg from the Bristol Rovers draw, there are two moments that catch the eye.

The first comes just before half-time. Chris Maguire sprints away down the left and Grigg, with a clever run, finds himself free at the back stick.

Maguire’s delivery is slightly over-hit but a slightly better-weighted ball would have seen Grigg through on goal.

Then in the second half, Max Power’s inch-perfect pass saw the striker in down the left. He held up play well before cutting the ball back to Maguire, who had the ball pinched off his toe as he prepared to shoot.

They were two nearly-moments, and two opportunities that showcased exactly what Grigg can bring to this Sunderland side if he is given licence to stretch the backline rather than simply hold-up play.

The onus is now on the rest of the squad to ensure he gets the service he needs.

The off-the-ball work that caught the eye

We’ve spoken plenty here about the data behind Grigg’s performance, but it is only by actually watching the striker’s every moment that you can get a real sense of how he performed against the Gas.

And there was enough to suggest he is worthy of another chance against Oxford United on Saturday.

He pressed well, picking his moments to retain possession while ensuring he was sharply reacting to second balls.

As we have grown accustomed to with Charlie Wyke, Grigg was also willing to drop deep and start attacks, before having the energy to ensure he was then a willing option in the final third. He also did what Phil Parkinson demands of his strikers – running the channels, stretching the defence and creating pockets of space for those around him.

His heat map, shown above, shows the ground the forward able to cover in the final third – and he looks far fitter than he has done during his previous 18 months on Wearside.

All that’s missing is goals - and for that, the focus needs to on Sunderland as a whole, rather than Grigg as an individual.

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