**Having once again been written off by the masses at the beginning of the season (myself included), Luke O’Nien was absolutely outstanding in our final two games of the season. Whilst it’s easy to overlook him considering the other stand-out performers, Luke’s contribution was absolutely crucial to our clinching of Europa League football.**
Ruled out of the first five games of the season with a shoulder injury, O’Nien was always going to have to wait to make any sort of impact on the pitch this season. Our defensive signings proved to be some of our best, and Ballard and Hume stepped up to the plate, meaning Mr Sunderland faced a lot of competition to get in the side.
When he got needlessly sent off against Man City, therefore, in what was only his second substitute appearance, days after the first, many of us said that he’d played his last game in a Sunderland shirt.
Aside from one faultless display in the 3rd round of the FA Cup away to Everton in January, O’Nien was limited to a total of fourteen minutes of substitute appearances throughout the months of January and February, coming on thrice as the game appeared to be already finished.
It was therefore a bit of a shock to see him named as captain when we travelled to Leeds in March, but O’Nien valiantly led the side to only our second away win of the campaign. On another day (especially with VAR) he could have given away a penalty when he got a bit too comfortable with Pascal Struijk. It was these types of errors that had caused large portions of the fan base to doubt LON, especially in the Premier League where officials have the luxary of being able to re-watch incidents, unlike in the EFL.
When we then found ourselves 1-0 down away to Newcastle only two games later, due to a misplaced O’Nien pass, in what had been a terrible opening period for the lads in one of the biggest games of the season, many of us had decided that we’d seen enough. A reflection from that game, however, is that said mistake couldn’t have happened to a better player. Speaking after the game, O’Nien revealed that his mental response to such a costly error was thinking about his ‘next action’ and not dwelling on that one. During his career at Sunderland, Luke has constantly had to pick himself up after a mistake and do what he can to resolve it, and is the definition of a mentality monster when it comes to bouncing back. He then went on to be defensively solid for the rest of the game, as the team turned the game on its head and came back to win.
Had that mistake been one of our younger players, for example, it could have destroyed them mentally, but O’Nien’s ability to simply put it behind him and focus on what he can now control was about as impressive as the mistake was.
He then played the full game as we kept a clean sheet at home to beat Spurs, but followed that up with a nightmare away to Villa. Arguably at fault for all four of the goals we conceded, O’Nien was dropped and didn’t play a minute for the following three games. If it was for Alderete’s injury away to Everton, it’s likely that his final game of the season would have been that disaster away to Villa, and (although we’ve said this before) possibly his last ever game for Sunderland.
Given that we knew we had to beat Everton to give ourselves a chance of Europe on the final day, we all held our breath as the Paraguayan limped off and our number thirteen came on, with just over twenty two minutes played…
But Luke O’Nien was absolutely outstanding. Defensively faultless, comfortable on the ball and spraying those cross-field balls that have became a key part of his game in the last few seasons all contributed to him looking every bit a quality Premier League centre-half. Crunching tackle after crunching tackle timed to perfection showed just how ready LON was, and there were so many of them the club even made a highlight reel of them.
Then came Chelsea, a different beast. With one win standing between us and Europe (dependant on other results) the pressure was well and truly on. If there’s one thing we have learned about O’Nien though, it’s that he revels under pressure. Again, he was defensively faultless and had played some great football to get us out of trouble on multiple occasions. He even managed to snatch a first assist in the Premier League, flicking the ball on perfectly for Hume to attack, giving us the lead as the Stadium of Light erupted.
Having been hooked off at half-time in his first game at the club and it taking months to get back in the side, to being continually written off every single season that he’s been at the club, I genuinely can’t remember an occasion where he hasn’t ended up being a pivotal part of the side, and instrumental to whatever we have achieved.
This season is yet another example of the above. We had to win our last two games, and Luke O’Nien was absolutely outstanding as we won both and achieved what absolutely nobody thought we were capable of.
As he kicked a ball around with his wife and kids on the pitch after the game, I thought back to when Luke O’Nien joined the club. At 23 years old he packed his car and drove from High Wycombe to the north east. He was a boy, full of enthusiasm and dying to impress but definitely very unsure of himself. Since then he has developed from a player who might make it in League One, to someone who we can’t wait to see take on the Europa League. He has also been married, had two kids and put his roots down on Wearside. He is now a mature man, one of the most experienced in the dressing room and an exceptional leader, example and mentor for the younger members of the squad. What a journey, what a player and what a bloke. Outstanding.