Brian Brobbey has been described as Sunderland’s talisman after he produced a ‘real bullying job’ that laid the foundations for Sunday’s win against Premier League rivals Chelsea.

The former Ajax striker enjoyed a productive first season on Wearside as his performances at the top end of the pitch helped Regis Le Bris guide his side to a seventh place finish in the Premier League and that was enough to secure only the second European campaign in the club’s long and proud history. Although Brobbey has struggled to find the net during the opening months of the current campaign, with his hat-trick at Manchester City representing his only goals of the season so far, he has continued to be a nuisance for opposing defenders and his importance to the Black Cats is not lost on the Stadium of Light faithful.

There were suggestions the likes of Juventus and Manchester United had shown an interest in Brobbey in recent months - but Sunderland have moved to tie down his services after the striker put pen-to-paper on a new long-term deal that handed Le Bris a boost during what has been a challenging start to the season.

Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard has been impressed with what he has witnessed from the Netherlands international during his time on Wearside and he believes Brobbey has become ‘the main part of the identity’ of this Sunderland side under Le Bris.

Speaking on The Overlap, in association with SkyBet, the former England midfielder said: “Well, he’s the talisman now, isn’t he? He’s someone who you can build a team around. He gives you that focal point, and he gives you that main part of your identity at Sunderland, which is for him to cause as much damage and as much chaos to defences and defenders as he possibly can, and he did that to Chelsea. I’m a big fan of Levi Colwill when he is fit and he’s consistently playing. He’s a good defender as well, but Brobbey caused them endless problems. It was a mismatch at times, a real bullying job, and I think that helped them.”

Performance

Sunday’s win against Xabi Alonso’s side was only the second time Sunderland have claimed maximum points in a Premier League game since their first home game of the campaign when a Wilson Isidor goal edged out Fulham at the Stadium of Light. The importance of the victory against the Blues can not be understated after the pressure on Le Bris was ramped up in the aftermath of last weekend’s league defeat at Coventry City and the Europa League loss against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night as Sunderland suffered their first reverse in this season’s competition.

Gerrard admitted he expected Chelsea to boost their Champions League ambitions with a win against the Black Cats and described the win as a ‘big, big result’ for Le Bris and his players. He said: “I didn’t see it coming. I’m not a betting man, but if I was a betting man, I’d have definitely gone for Chelsea, especially on the back of their performance against United. I really loved them going forward, so I didn’t see an upset there. Having said that, I think we’ve seen enough of Sunderland over the last 12 months to know that they have got that result in the locker. I don’t think they’ve had the best of seasons so far, but it’s a big, big result for Sunderland, and hopefully they can kick on from that.

“I think having Brian Brobbey fit and available, he caused Chelsea’s two centre-backs a lot of problems with his physicality and his hold-up play. If they can keep him in the team and keep him fit, I can see Sunderland building on this performance and this result.”

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Second-season syndrome

Competing in the Europa League has provided a new challenge for Le Bris as he balances the demands of the Premier League with attempting to progress into the knockout stages of UEFA’s secondary club competition. Being denied the services of a number of players through injury in recent weeks has not aided the Frenchman’s cause - but the injury list is slowly starting to decrease and Le Bris will now hope several members of his squad are able to avoid picking up knocks during the latest international break.

With a visit to in-form Aston Villa next on the agenda for the Black Cats, Gerrard has insisted the win against Chelsea has ‘lifted a lot of gloom’ and has given Sunderland a chance to build some momentum over the coming weeks and months.

“They’ve had some injuries, they’ve had players missing,” explained the Liverpool legend. “I think it was the first time at the weekend they had everyone available, or the majority fit and available. It was a tough game. Chelsea came in form, but to win and get a clean sheet and move up a bit in the table will be big for them, especially with it being the last game before the international break. If Chelsea were to go there and win, more pressure, more questions: second-season syndrome, they can’t play after Europe. All those questions and the negativity just stay for another two weeks. But I think they’ve lifted a lot of gloom. Fans are delighted. Win, clean sheet, Brobbey’s back. I think there’s a lot for them to go and build on now.”