Could a shift in position be the answer for Wilson Isidor?

I think Wilson is the second coming of Thierry Henry, personally.

He’s built the same, is as fast, and is great with the ball at his feet. He loves to run at players but just lacks that final decision — and that’s why he’s not playing for Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham or their ilk.

I’d love to see him start more and I think he’s capable of so much more than he’s shown. He likes to go down often and softly, if he could just be a bit stronger, he’d be as glorified as Eliezer Mayenda in my opinion.

I hope he gets his opportunity,whether it be down the left, through the middle or down the right, or even at centre back!

He’s quite obviously a lush human who deserves a good crack of the whip, and wherever he plays, he’s a Mackem through and through and will give his all for the team.

Isidor has shown across both his time at Sunderland and elsewhere that he’s very capable when coming from a left wing position. He’s produced some fine moments in this vein, occasionally producing Thierry Henry-esque finishes across the goalkeeper from those areas — most notably and recently against West Ham and Coventry.

It’s something I believe the club recognised when signing him in the first place, and it’s great versatility to have in the squad. He often has a lot of success when pushing the ball past players and using his speed to get into promising positions, but I do think he’s a striker rather than a winger.

When it comes to our current left wing options, we’re threadbare but we have one of our statement signings and most experienced Premier League players in Simon Adingra. And while he hasn’t been wildly effective thus far, I still think he offers a level of technicality and vision which Isidor may otherwise lack from out wide.

This season also appears to have increased our reliance on crossing and a deep defensive structure involving the wingers — two areas I see as weaknesses in Isidor’s overall game.

I’d be happy to have Isidor getting minutes from the left as a backup, especially against tiring legs later in games, but replacing Adingra would be a tall order and I’d much prefer to see Isidor’s patience rewarded with a chance to start up front!

I think being able to play Isidor on the left wing is definitely a good option. I’m aware that we were up against lesser competition on Tuesday (despite defeat), but in the second half, he did impress me.

His electric pace and quick feet tick two of the main boxes you would expect from a winger. We also know that he likes to come inside onto his right foot to shoot and is able to find the corner from that position — goals against Sheffield United, Coventry City and of course West Ham spring to mind.

Currently, Simon Adingra is the only player who would be classed as a left winger, so having another option for that position can only be a positive. This can also help Isidor, as it appears he’ll be the second choice behind Eliezer Mayenda, and he might be able to get some more game time on the left wing.

I thought that playing Isidor and Marc Guiu together as a front two didn’t really work, as they were making the same runs at the same time and getting on top of each other and we looked much more dangerous when Isidor was out on the left.

It’s a good option to have and it appears to be able to work, but I also wouldn’t mind signing another forward (possibly an out-and-out left winger) to give us a more experienced player in that position.

We all know that Isidor’s idol is Thierry Henry, so what better opportunity to mimic your hero than by playing in the same position?

Isidor is blessed with pace and you can see from the West Ham game that defenders are going to struggle to keep up with him. Where he’s been less impactful, in my opinion, is when he’s played in the middle.

This isn’t necessarily due to the way that Isidor plays, though he can be found offside a bit more often than I would ideally like. He makes intelligent runs and plays off the back of the centre back; I just think that he’s granted more space from the left wing position and therefore, we’ll see more impact.

We also need to think about the reality of the situation.

At the moment, Eliezer Mayenda is ahead of Isidor in the pecking order and I’d also argue that Mayenda has more potential in that position. As a result, we need players like Isidor to adjust and compromise in order to fit into the team. It just so happens that this could have real benefits for all, and we’ve already seen positive results.

I like Wilson on the left. He’s scored some important goals for us in that position, namely against Coventry City in the playoff semi-final, Sheffield United on New Year’s Day and against West Ham in the first game of this season.

He loves to skip past right backs and slot the ball across the goal and into the back of the net, however, I’d prefer him in a more roaming role.

He was on the left on Tuesday night and although he saw a lot of ball possession, there was no end product.

If he’s not allowed to roam, we wouldn’t see the audacious efforts such as the goal he scored during the Coventry home league game last season and at Leeds — and I don’t think he gets enough credit for the way he shook off Ethan Ampadu and slotted it in for that game’s first goal.

He’s strong and able to hold off defenders, and I’d like him to do it across the front line.

I’d welcome Wilson out wide, to be honest. It was a very effective showing from him in that second half on Tuesday — some of the best since we had a free flowing Jack Clarke, Tommy Watson or Romaine Mundle down that side.

When Milan Aleksić came on and got the assist, he showed he has a lot to offer too. Fair enough, it was a League One opponent in front of them but Isidor has played there a lot in his career, and who wouldn’t want a capable wide man who can also score a lot of goals?

While we continue to develop our striking options and potential new signings, I’d welcome a few trial spells of all three of our boys, maybe during the last twenty minutes of the odd game which is at stake and heading for a draw.

Isidor wide left, Elizer Mayenda wide right and Marc Guiu through the middle. Why not?

The two heroes of our promotion season both have bundles of pace and ability, and with a stereotypical number nine down the middle, they can potentially vary attacking their options to confuse and challenge defences and get more goals, which is what we need.

This team is far from settled in personnel or shape, so let these lads have a go and we may well reveal options we didn’t know we could benefit from.

It’s just a shame our League Cup run is over, as that would be the ideal platform for this. You’ve got to have a go to find out, and I trust Régis Le Bris to do so in a suitably risk-managed way.