AMSTERDAM – With his fairly successful Sunderland loan debut now behind him, it's time to break out the ol' American Exports abacus for a three-dimensional look at DeAndre Yedlin's two-dimensional numbers from Tuesday night's Capital One Cup loss to Manchester City.
The US international was among few standouts for the scandalously sloppy home team, who were down four by half-time. Amid the mess, Yedlin managed to have a positive night on both sides of the ball, drawing praise from both new manager Dick Advocaat and an antsy Sunderland fan base.
The Attacking Side
Yedlin created arguably Sunderland's best two moments of the contest, including the pinpoint 81st-minute cross that earned him the assist on Ola Toivonen's consolation header. It seems best to start there.
The helper was one of four area entries in the game for Yedlin, and his third of the second half. We credited him for a successful breach every time he dribbled or passed into the Man City box. His first such raid came on a terrific 25th-minute flank rush that ended with a cross every bit as good as on the assist play and a big save on Toivonen from away netminder Willy Caballero.
The second time Yedlin picked him out, though, went by the textbook. Toivonen waived a finger at just the right moment and the American followed directions to put another header on a platter for the Swede. This play also marked the right back's fourth overlap run of the night, and third past halftime.
What's more, the rush before the cross included Yedlin's eighth defender beaten on the dribble. He made six of those victims after the break, with three coming on a single play (a 73rd minute burst to the inside line that ended with a sweet area-entry pass).
Clearly, when combining all these numbers from a bad loss, the former Seattle Sounders ace has already proved capable of having offensive impact impact from right back against top English opposition. Some observers speak of concerns over his possession work, but Yedlin completed eight of eight such passes, including five while the ball was a rare commodity for Sunderland in the first half.
Though he was only forced into one tough touch under duress, Yedlin also ably handled that situation. All told, his attack work against Manchester City was both clean and dangerous, quickly raising a serious lineup question for Advocaat.
The Defending Side
This was the bigger concern before the Manchester City thrashing. Although Yedlin was quite culpable on the visitors' second goal, the sum of his performance at the back for the night actually crept into the positive. To be fair, it was not hard to stand out playing near a very shaky Sebastian Coates and a soft-as-wet-tissue midfield passing the ball around wildly in front of him.
On the down side, Yedlin was a tad late to the offside trap and Kevin De Bruyne sped past to score in the 25th minute. It was one of those mistakes a player recognizes the instant before he's beaten, and this time it was punished.
Some may ding Yedlin for the third and/or fourth Man City goals, but this space believes he shouldn't be faulted much for either. The own goal caused by Raheem Sterling's post-carom work should be directly charged to left back Patrick van Aanholt for not holding the line.
The fourth goal was not so cut-and-dried, yet Yedlin was in a good but unlucky position that just allowed Sterling to pull off more second-chance magic. The other breakdowns that led to this thankless scene were far more severe.
Counting the De Bruyne goal, Yedlin was beaten by just two attackers, and neither on the dribble. It's worth mentioning both such events came during the first half, when Sunderland enjoyed less of the ball.
However, with Sunderland passing like a drunk man missing his glasses, Yedlin was inevitably caught up five times. Four of those came as the hosts pushed forward more often in the second half. The good news is his job was well-covered on three of those occasions, with the worst outcome his lone foul of the game while attempting a 57th-minute recovery.
The recovery play was predictably his defensive ace on Tuesday night, and he played it well. Though he made just two stops from that category, the first effectively robbed a very loose Sergio Aguero shortly before the break.
In all, Yedlin made seven total defensive plays and a couple of really helpful offside line holds. Four of those stops were pass interceptions of his favorite kind, the lane step. Impressively, two of those occurred in the air and he handled each play smoothly.
The Aftermath?
Yedlin made a compelling case, and was quite arguably one of the top two Sunderland players on the night.
It is unclear how quickly this outing will push him into the line-up for a league match, but we can promise you one thing: The longer it takes, the louder the supporters will be about playing the new guy. And folks, they get loud on such topics.
