Luke O’Nien Epitomises Sunderland’s “Never-Say-Die” Team Spirit
· Yahoo Sports
He’s been here for eight years, making over four hundred appearances and finding himself being tested again and again, but always responding strongly and silencing the doubters in the process.
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However, it’s fair to say that when Luke O’Nien got into a muddle alongside Melker Ellborg during Sunday’s derby, with their moment of indecision leading to Newcastle’s opening goal, the veteran defender found himself needing to dig extremely deeply in order to get his head back into the game and to ensure that his performance didn’t suffer as a result.
OK, it was a costly error as he tried to slide a pass into midfield when simply going agricultural and clearing his lines the old-fashioned way would’ve been the safe choice, but you don’t carve out the kind of career he’s enjoyed at the Stadium of Light without possessing the ability to overcome setbacks, and that’s exactly what he did as Sunderland rallied impressively to turn a 1-0 deficit into an eventual 1-2 victory, with O’Nien barely putting a foot wrong thereafter.
For the remaining eighty minutes, this was a classic O’Nien performance: committed, wholehearted and utterly focused on ensuring that an individual error didn’t torpedo Sunderland’s chances of victory. At the end of the game, with his teammates gathered around him and basking in the glow of victory, his visible display of emotion told its own story. He knew what it meant — and we did, too.
Indeed, even though O’Nien’s selection at the heart of the red and white defence had been contentious, with Dan Ballard absent and Nordi Mukiele settling for a spot on the bench (“He’s just as likely to be as solid as a rock as he is to drop a clanger,” I opined in our Roker Report group chat ahead of the game) the way in which he steadied himself and formed an imposing last line of defence alongside Omar Alderete was no surprise.
Overcoming setbacks and continually proving his worth have been two of the running themes of O’Nien’s Sunderland career but for arguably the most driven and resilient player I’ve seen in the red and white stripes, this was a challenge to relish.
These games probably mean more to him because he’ll doubtless remember what it was like when such days seemed like a distant dream; when we were fighting and scrapping to one day take our place among the elite once more as Newcastle bathed in their Saudi riches and took great pleasure in mocking us from on high.
In that sense, it was slightly surreal to see him mixing it with the likes of Anthony Elanga, Joelinton and Harvey Barnes amid the ferocity of such an occasion, but just as he never fell out of favour under any of his previous Sunderland bosses, he was there on merit and he never took a backwards step.
When all was said and done and the league double had been completed, you had to acknowledge that Sunday was yet another memorable day for O’Nien — the latest in a frankly absurd amount since his arrival in the summer of 2018 — and how many Sunderland players in recent times can honestly say they’ve enjoyed such a standout career at the Stadium of Light?
I must admit that there have been occasions this season — such as his light-hearted reaction to a narrowly-avoided own goal against Port Vale — on which O’Nien has perhaps appeared to the naked eye to not be taking things as seriously as he might, but the bobbly pitch and ramshackle surroundings of Vale Park are a world away from St James’ Park and you have to give the man his due for the way in which he recovered from his early mistake.
If we’re honest, O’Nien is something of a one-off.
His rise to the Premier League from the depths of League One is a story that’s unlikely ever to be repeated at our club, but even though defensive reinforcements are sure to arrive in the summer, it would be foolish to make the mistake of thinking that the story is over yet, as O’Nien himself emphatically declared in January.
This is arguably the most unified and wholly committed side that Sunderland have ever fielded in the Premier League and as one of the final survivors from the League One years, O’Nien brings a different perspective; an appreciation of how low we once were, how bleak the future once looked and how much hard work has been undertaken in order to reach our current destination.
That’s utterly priceless in itself and if the Lads can finish the season on a high and send the club into the summer with belief soaring, it would surely represent the pinnacle of O’Nien’s career — the best years of which have undoubtedly been spent at Sunderland — and further cement his status as one of our most influential players of recent times.