Dan Neil: Premier League Bound?

The rise of Dan Neil this season has not been a shock to any Sunderland fan. From just the 2020/21 pre-season, everyone could see just how good he was. With Leeds, Newcastle and Tottenham interested (according to reports), people had good reason for getting very excited about the youngster. A local lad, the Wearsiders were, and still are, hopeful that Dan Neil could follow in the footsteps of other academy graduates such as Jordan Henderson and Jordan Pickford.

After what turned out to be a frustrating season last term for Neil, former Sunderland Head Coach, Lee Johnson put his faith in the 19-year-old at the beginning of this season, as Sunderland looked to become a more youthful outfit. Beginning the season at left back, it didn’t take long before Dan Neil had cemented his place in the first team, as the first-choice central midfield option.

Dan Neil's agility, forward thinking and ability to pick out a pass has seen him quickly become a fan favourite this season in the North-East. It has also earned him his first England call-up within the youth setup, as well as a host of personal accolades including EFL Young Player of the Month for December, Sunderland Young Player of the Year 2021/22 and North-East Football Writers Association Young Player of the Year.

Offensively, Dan Neil’s statistics this season are astonishing. In his first full season of professional football, to have registered 4 goals and 8 assists from centre midfield is phenomenal, and you can see why he has interest from teams in higher divisions. His passing is up there with the best in League One – as of December 28th, 2021, according to Wyscout, Dan Neil was in the 95th percentile of League One midfielders for key passes per 90 and the 90th percentile of League One midfielders for key passes per 90. This goes to show that Neil should play at a much higher level.

Being able to learn from the likes of Alex Pritchard, Jack Clarke and Patricks Roberts will no doubt help Dan Neil’s development as he will be able to pick up on things which they do, which have allowed them to play at higher levels previously in their careers. In a midfield three at the start of the season, Dan Neil had a license to roam which allowed him to drive into the space between the midfield and the attack. His assist against Wycombe Wanderers was a perfect example of this as he picks up the ball inside his own half and plays his pass to Ross Stewart on the edge of the Wycombe box.

As Sunderland transitioned more to a midfield two, it became obvious that the area of weakness in Neil's game currently is the defensive side. According to Wyscout, Neil is in the 30th percentile of League One midfielders for interceptions per 90 and the 20th percentile of League One midfielders for shots blocked per 90. At the beginning of this season, when Sunderland were playing with a midfield three, this part of his game was not so important, because he could rely on the other two midfielders to carry out the defensive duties. Now, with a midfield two, it is more obvious that there are weaknesses in Dan Neil’s game. Sunderland’s new Head Coach, Alex Neil, has picked up on this weakness and has often played the more combative midfield duo option of Jay Matete and Luke O’Nien, whose defensive stats are significantly better than Dan Neil’s.

Should he be able to improve on this area of his game, there is no reason why he can't go far in football, a sport in which the all-round game is becoming so important. Players such as Yaya Toure and Moussa Dembele are the types of players Neil should study in order to excel, as they are midfielders who were,able to dominate offensively and defensively in a midfield partnership as opposed to a midfield three. More recently, Marcos Llorente is a complete midfielder that Dan Neil should look up to. The Spaniard is both solid defensively, and efficient in attack. Last season he racked up 13 goals and 12 assists for Atletico Madrid, whilst also completing over 1.5 tackles a game and more clearances than any other Atletico Madrid midfielder. As a midfielder who plays in a midfield two, Marcos Llorente is definitely someone that Dan Neil can learn from.

His stats prove that he can go far in football, and that’s why it is a common feeling among Sunderland fans that he will be in the Premier League in the next five years.