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Tony Mowbray labels Pierre Ekwah an ‘artist not a soldier’ with ability that belies his size
Tony Mowbray has pigeon-holed midfielder Pierre Ekwah as an ‘artist’ rather than a soldier, saying his size belies his ability on the ball. Sunderland finished the Championship season without a recognised central defender, with Danny Batth, Dan Ballard, and Aji Alese, all injured.
In the build-up to Sunderland’s play-off semi-final second leg at Kenilworth Road on Tuesday night, Mowbray had floated the idea of potentially playing a midfielder in central defence if the Black Cats needed extra physicality to withstand the aerial bombardment from the Hatters. Ultimately, he opted not to go down that route with Alese was passed fit to come on as a substitute in the second half at Luton to add some extra height.
But Mowbray’s comments had raised the question of whether Ekwah, at 6ft 2in could operate in central defence if asked. Mowbray frequently talks of teams needing a blend of ‘artists and soldiers’ – flair players alongside the dogged defensive typed – to make them work.
READ MORE: Luton Town ‘let themselves down’ in the first leg against Sunderland but made amends in the second
And the head coach sees Ekwah firmly as an artist, even though his height perhaps suggests otherwise. Asked whether Ekwah could fill in as a centre-back, Mowbray said: “He has got the size, hasn’t he?
“But what you don’t really feel is the personality of the players, really, because you only see them on the pitch doing what they do. Pierre is not a centre-half. He’s an artist, really.
“I talk about having soldiers and artists in a team, and he’s an artist, He’s a technician, he wants to roll his foot over the top of a ball, flick it with the outside of his foot round the corner.
“Could he play centre-half? They can all play centre-half if they can hanfle the ball, and he can undoubtedly handle the ball, it’s just whether he could handle the physicality and get his body in the right way when strikers are making runs off his shoulder and what have you.
“It’s not him, really.”
Ekwah joined Sunderland in January from West Ham and he arrived on Wearside having yet to make his senior debut. But he came to the fore in the last month or so of the season, and turned in a man of the match display in Sunderland play-off semi-final first leg win against Luton on Wearside last weekend.
He ended the season having made 15 Championship appearances, including five starts, and he will be expected to push for a regular place in the starting XI next season.
