Sunderland boss on Nazariy Rusyn: 'We’re now seeing the player that the club bought'
Michael Beale says Sunderland are now ‘seeing the player they bought’ in Nazariy Rusyn after another good performance for the Black Cats.
Rusyn scored from the bench against Middlesbrough, his second of the season, and started in the 3-1 win over Plymouth on Saturday.
He wasn’t able to add to his goals tally in that one, but he put in an excellent performance full of aggression and energy.
It all adds to a growing weight of evidence that the 25-year-old is really starting to settle at Sunderland, and Beale is convinced he’s now a big asset to the team.
“I think we’re seeing the player that the club bought in the summer,” Beale said of Rusyn. “I think we're seeing it more and more every game.
“The striker is there to score goals and we know that, but his work ethic for the team is really important. We want to be an aggressive team, we want to go and press the opposition, and he certainly brings that.”
One common frustration for supporters when Rusyn has been in the Sunderland side has been watching him making the kind of incisive runs we all know the team needs, yet them going ignored by teammates.
It’s something Beale has pick up upon as well, and it’s something he thinks will happen less and less the more the Ukrainian plays.
“The more and more he plays, the more I think you'll see our midfield picking his runs,” Beale said. “I think his movement is actually good, where we haven’t played with a striker this season.
“But do we always see his movement? Can we look forward quicker? We’re working on that.
“Naturally, you want to click your fingers and it all starts to work straight away, but I’m seeing good signs.”
READ MORE SUNDERLAND NEWS
- Sunderland contract situation: Who is nearing the end of their current deal?
- Top Ten: Sunderland's best ever January signings
- Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham names two former Sunderland players as his heroes
- Jordan Willis and seven other Sunderland careers ruined by injury
- Sell to thrive, not sell to survive: The Sunderland 'model' explained - in their own words
- Luke O'Nien and eight other Sunderland players who successfully changed positions