STADIUM OF LIGHT — In a summer when £100m seemed to be the going rate for even the most mediocre of midfielders, how on earth did Enzo Le Fee manage to slip under the radar?
Le Fee possesses extravagant gifts but hardly any profile. If you are picking the most underrated player in the Premier League, the Sunderland schemer is a leading contender. He can score (two already this season despite an unfortunate penalty miss on Saturday), he can create and – as Arsenal can testify after last weekend – Le Fee isn’t averse to digging in when the going gets tough. He is also only 26. Am I missing something?
Perhaps if he played in the red and white of Manchester United rather than this criminally unsung Sunderland side it would be different. Or maybe it’s just a sign that Premier League scouting isn’t half as sophisticated as it proclaims to be.
Whatever it is Sunderland fans will be eternally grateful for the disrespect. If Granit Xhaka is the peerless setter of standards at the Stadium of Light, Le Fee is the creative brains of the operation. Regis Le Bris’ side have plenty of ways of hurting you but Le Fee is the one who really elevates them.
Just ask AZ Alkmaar. The Eredivisie high fliers thought they’d weathered the red and white storm on a night for the ages in Wearside but just as the cacophonous atmosphere threatened to turn nervy, up popped Le Fee with a moment of trickery to prise open an obdurate Dutch defence.
Weslley Patati was his unfortunate victim, providing just enough contact to give referee Jeremie Pignard a decision to make. Given the sway of a sell-out Stadium of Light crowd, he was never going to turn furious red and white appeals away.
The Stadium of Light was bouncing on Wednesday night (Photo: Reuters)Le Fee is no certainty from the spot but bottle is another string to his bow. Having missed against Arsenal, there was never a question about whether he’d step up here. The relief when he rolled it past Jari De Busser was palpable.
It felt like a big moment in what could be a really big season on Wearside. Much has been made of the challenges that a European campaign pose for a club will little muscle memory in the competition but what about the opportunities? Xhaka was deadly serious when he said this week that Sunderland should aim to win the Europa League. This felt like the sort of result that starts the process of turning doubters into believers.
For a start, I can’t imagine there’s a team in the competition who would fancy a date on Wearside if it maintains this sort of feverish atmosphere for the rest of this campaign. Sunderland had promised to roll out the red carpet and they didn’t disappoint, an impressive tifo proclaiming they had “New shores to conquer” helping ramp up the already deafening noise.
AZ Alkmaar proved to be no mugs. Second in the Eredivisie and with much more European pedigree than a club returning to continental competition for the first time for 53 years, they ended up being pretty good dance partners for the Black Cats.y
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Sunderland needed their best players to step up and Le Fee did just that. “You need good players at the right moment,” Le Bris said afterwards.
“And Enzo is a geat player. He can create, he can score, he can help in defence. He’s just great.”
Overlooked in the Premier League, Le Fee might nevertheless be close to a big breakthrough elsewhere. New France boss Zinedine Zidane has included him in his preliminary squad for the forthcoming Nations League internationals and, if he was watching in midweek, the Sunderland man should be a shoo-in when the final list is confirmed on Friday.
Perhaps then the rest of the Premier League might wake up to the division’s most slept on star.
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