Tony Mowbray has spoken of his admiration for Dan Neil, who he actually wanted to sign while managing Blackburn. But he also mentioned where the midfielder can improve to become even better...
BLACKBURN
"If you picture me sitting in my office at Blackburn Rovers last season talking to Veno [assistant Mark Venus] about players, he was saying to me 'the best player in League One is Dan Neil, you've got to go and get him gaffer - you've got to go and get him', and I was saying 'I haven't seen him'. I didn't really study him, but Mark had studied him a lot. Veno was telling me how good he is on the ball because he likes possession football, and playing forward and blah, blah, blah."
GROWTH
"Now we're here [at Sunderland] and I see the qualities, but I also see the personality that needs encouraging, needs pushing, needs showing the repetition of what he has to do. He's still got lots of growth in him."
OFF THE BALL
"Out of possession, I naturally drive players to get tight, to close down, to win balls, to stop the opposition playing. I think the sooner you win the ball back, the more possession you've got to hurt the opposition with. I'm a bit uncomfortable sometimes - unless you are playing against a top team - sitting in a passive shape, not trying to win the ball back."
AGGRESSIVE
I preach to Dan Neil about playing on the front foot, being aggressive, putting your body in, trying to win it back - not standing two or three yards away thinking you are doing something. I could still play if you give me three yards to pass round you! Good players only need a yard of space, they can pick passes."
DIFFERENT ASPECTS
"Dan is listening to that. He has enough physicality in his game. I think it's important if you are going to be a top midfield player, you have to bring both aspects of the game - not just be good with the ball, and hope the manager thinks 'it doesn't matter out of possession because we've got this Rottweiler next to him'."
NEIL/BELLINGHAM
"Jude Bellingham is the case in point, he is showing [with England] he can drive with the ball, he can pass it, he can win it back, he presses really well, and everyone is talking about him being worth hundreds of millions of pounds. So for Dan Neil, OK we can see your quality on the ball so let's see you out of possession on the front foot, aggressive, athletic, strong. If he wants to be a top player, if he wants to play at the top level, he has to bring all these aspects of his game forward."
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