Eliezer Mayenda’s goal at Bournemouth has intensified scrutiny on Wilson Isidor - and raised a significant summer decision for Florent Ghisolfi
Football narratives shift quickly. Sometimes unfairly. Sometimes ruthlessly. And sometimes in ways that feel inevitable once momentum changes.
Eliezer Mayenda’s goal at Bournemouth - his first since the opening day against West Ham - was not just important in the context of stopping Sunderland’s losing run. It subtly reframed the conversation around Wilson Isidor.
Isidor is a player supporters like. A player who was crucial last season. A forward who, by October, had four Premier League goals and appeared to be riding the wave of Sunderland’s promotion rather than merely surviving it. There was even loose January talk of £25million valuations. At the time, it did not feel absurd.
But football does not stand still. The missed chance away at Liverpool - which could have delivered Sunderland’s first win at Anfield in a generation - felt pivotal. Another opportunity at Manchester City came and went. Those moments did not just cost points; they appeared to dent Régis Le Bris’ trust. Confidence is currency for a striker. When it wavers, everything tightens.
Against Oxford United in the FA Cup, Championship opposition offered what looked like the perfect reset. Isidor worked hard, as he always does, but the sharpness was missing. When Habib Diarra stepped forward to take a penalty, there was a fleeting look of frustration from Isidor. He has not taken one since having two saved by James Trafford against Burnley last season. Scoring that afternoon might have shifted something internally. Instead, Diarra buried it. The team's decision was vindicated. The subtext lingered.
Fast forward to Bournemouth. Brian Brobbey is injured. The door is open. Le Bris opts for Mayenda from the start. Isidor is left on the bench until the 96th minute - effectively no opportunity to influence the game. That, more than any quote, tells you something. Mayenda scores in the first half and lools good. A scrappy, opportunistic finish after a goalkeeper’s error. It was harder to miss. Strikers thrive on those moments. Isidor has not had one fall kindly for him in months.
And therein lies the conundrum for director of football Florent Ghisolfi and head coach Régis Le Bris. If a serious offer arrives in the summer, do Sunderland stick or twist? Do they persist with a forward whose ceiling once looked significantly higher than his current output? Or do they move decisively, as this ownership group have shown they are willing to do, and reinvest?
The question is not whether Isidor has ability. He does. Nor is it whether form can return. It can. Strikers oscillate between feast and famine with alarming speed. The same player who looked indispensable in October now finds himself peripheral by late winter. That alone underlines how volatile this sport can be. But selection shapes destiny. If Le Bris does not trust him in moments like Bournemouth - with injuries mounting and points precious - then the trajectory becomes difficult to reverse.
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And yet, writing off a striker in February is dangerous. Football has a habit of offering redemption just when the narrative appears settled. For now, the bigger picture is this: Sunderland stopped the rot on the south coast. But beneath that resilience lies a strategic decision waiting to be made. Isidor’s Sunderland story could still twist again before May. Or it may already be quietly drifting toward its conclusion.
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