The on-field differences between Patrick Roberts' Sunderland spell compared to his Middlesbrough and Derby County loans

While contracted to Manchester City, loan spells at Celtic, Girona, Norwich, Middlesbrough, Derby and French side Troyes, had been, at best, mixed for the 25-year-old.

Aside from Roberts’ two and a half years at Celtic Park, he had struggled to build on the early promise which prompted City to spend a reported £12miilion fee on an 18-year-old prospect from Fulham in 2015.

A slow start at Sunderland

And in his first few weeks on Wearside, there was a growing feeling this could be another underwhelming move.

Roberts joined Sunderland short of game time after playing just two competitive matches for Troyes in the first half of the 2021/22 campaign.

Former Black Cats boss Lee Johnson had also played a big part in the player’s move to the Stadium of Light, yet the head coach was sacked just a week and a half after the deal was completed.

While there were flashes of Roberts’ ability during his brief cameos from the substitutes bench, it took until March 8 for the attacker to make his first Black Cats start in a 3-1 win over Fleetwood.

He had asked to play for Sunderland’s under-23 side to build up his fitness a week earlier, and, finally, things started to turn.

It was an away performance at Lincoln in the middle of March, despite the game finishing in a goalless draw, which really showed what Roberts was capable of.

With Alex Pritchard unavailable due to injury, Roberts stepped up as he was given a free-roaming role in a 3-5-1-1 system. New head coach Alex Neil called him a ‘little magician’ after the match.

After some more time to sharpen his game, the January signing soon became a key player during the run-in, starting Sunderland’s last five games as they won promotion from League One.

Roberts shows his strengths

While Neil adjusted his formation in the second half of last season, the Scot did revert to a 4-2-3-1 set-up, the system he predominately used at former clubs Norwich and Preston, for Sunderland’s three play-off fixtures, with Roberts operating on the right.

When you watch him play, the attacker’s main attributes are obvious. At 5 ft 6 he has a low centre of gravity, is agile and likes to take on opponents at every opportunity.

At Sunderland he has averaged 10.61 one-vs-one dribbles per 90 minutes, with a 53.5% success rate (according to football database Wyscout). Only Theo Corbeanu, during loan spells at Sheffield Wednesday and MK Dons, averaged more in League One last season.

Roberts also ranked highly when it came to progressive runs with the ball per 90 minutes (5.58), with Corbeanu, once again, the only player ahead of him on 7.56.

Ultimately, though, Roberts made more of an impact in the final third compared to his previous season in England, when he was loaned out to Middlesbrough and Derby during the 2020/21 Championship campaign.

That should have been expected considering Roberts had stepped down a division, yet there were some telling differences.

The success rate of Roberts’ dribbles increased from 37.9% during the 2020/21 season to 53.5% at Sunderland.

He was also far more involved, as the average number of passes he received went up from 15.65 to 22.52 per 90 minutes.

Defensive reservations

Perhaps most notably, though, Roberts, who is not the most physical player, increased the number of defensive duels he won from 50.8% to 64.3%.

It’s a side of the game Roberts will have to be aware of if he is to continue operating on the right of a 4-2-3-1 system under Neil, where there is an expectation to press and defend from the front.

Then-Middlesbrough boss Neil Warnock also explained his reservations about playing Roberts out wide after the player’s departure from the Riverside was confirmed last year.

"With us, as I said to him, I signed him in good faith, I thought when I signed him he could have a big part to play,” said Warnock.

"But he couldn’t play wide in our system because he couldn’t track full-backs and when I played him in the hole, if we played against a good three in there, which most teams seem to have, we were outnumbered.”

For Sunderland in League One, Roberts was clearly able to play with more attacking intent, where he was able to cut inside onto his stronger left foot and force opponents back.

Where he’ll fit in this season

It will now be interesting to see if the 25-year-old can continue to pose a similar threat at a higher level, while there will be more defensive responsibilities.

While Roberts formed a good understanding with Lynden Gooch during Sunderland’s play-off fixtures last season, with the latter operating at full-back, there’s a strong chance they could be competing for the same right wing position this season.

Neil’s selection decisions are regularly made with the opposition in mind, which will probably lead to rotation in the wide areas.

As previously mentioned, Roberts can also operate in a central position, where he may not have as many defensive responsibilities, though the No 10 role was regularly taken up by Pritchard when the latter was available for selection last term

Still, after a slow-burning start to his Sunderland career, many supporters were delighted to see Roberts sign a new two-year deal on Wearside last week.

With a full pre-season under his belt, he’ll look to make further strides in the Championship.