Can Sunderland Avoid A Sticky Second Season?
· Yahoo Sports
A band’s second album can notoriously be a let-down. You can get The Bends following Pablo Honey, but The Stone Roses didn’t really deliver following their self-titled debut. While the Premier League isn’t unfamiliar territory for Sunderland fans, beginning another top-flight season on the back of such a fruitful campaign certainly is.
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The remainder of the summer transfer window will reveal the extent of the board’s ambition going forward, and perhaps that’ll provide some insight into how we’ll approach our second term back in the top flight.
Regardless of any incomings and outgoings, there are new factors we’ll need to consider.
Régis Le Bris’ tactics are now a more familiar quantity to Premier League sides. The Europa League is an incredibly exciting opportunity for fans and players alike, but it will increase the demands on the squad. The rest of the league will also be looking to strengthen – we’ve already seen Chelsea and Spurs spend over £100 million.
As soon as the full-time whistle blew at Wembley last May, our goal was clear: survival. I certainly didn’t expect the quantity or quality of our signings last summer, but the objective never changed.
The first thing we need to consider is the ceiling of this squad’s ability.
I certainly didn’t expect Trai Hume or Dan Ballard to become staples of our Premier League campaign, but they stepped up superbly and there are others in the squad capable of doing the same. We haven’t really seen record signing Habib Diarra produce his very best yet, but our recruitment team aren’t daft and they clearly rated him highly enough to spend over £30 million on him.
I believe Chemsdine Talbi has even more to offer. He eventually looked far more comfortable on the left and, if he can produce the moments of magic we saw at Stamford Bridge more consistently, he’ll become a serious asset.
Jocelin Ta Bi, Chris Rigg and Nilson Angulo will all continue to develop and will be able to contribute across league, cup and European competitions. Our defenders are all at good ages, and it’ll be interesting to see how Granit Xhaka ages in the middle of the park.
We do have depth issues – particularly at left-back and right wing. Those will certainly need to be addressed before the season starts if we’re to juggle multiple competitions successfully.
I’ve mentioned this in previous pieces, but statistically speaking, our underlying numbers in the league will need to improve.
Based on expected goals and expected goals against, we would’ve finished eighteenth in the league.
I don’t believe that’s an entirely fair reflection given our style of play and deeper defensive line, meaning a number of shots against us are blocked. However, the numbers rarely lie and when you’re among the bottom three sides in the league for shots on target, touches in the opposition box and passes per match, you run the risk of a few deflections or moments of bad luck making those figures look more understandable.
During our Championship season, Le Bris showed he was capable of implementing a more attacking system, but arguably his greatest strength is his flexibility. He understands that certain games will present opportunities for Sunderland to be more expansive, but he also knows when the Lads need to hunker down and wait for opportunities to counter.
Ultimately, it’s a question of “stick or twist”.
If we want to improve our underlying numbers and arguably provide a more sustainable foundation for success, we run the risk of losing our defensive solidity – the very foundation upon which last season’s achievements were built.
There’s also a lot to be said for continuity.
This will be the first time in 15 years that Sunderland have begun a third consecutive season under the same manager. Le Bris will continue to learn – not only about the English game or the quality of the Premier League, but also about the strengths and demands of his players.
Players such as Brian Brobbey will benefit from a full pre-season under the gaffer, and it’ll provide opportunities for the coaching staff to assess different tactical possibilities. Moreover, given World Cup absences, the Frenchman will have opportunities to assess players who weren’t regular starters last season, as well as academy prospects.
I’ve only missed one flight in my life, but I imagine the more successful we are in Europe, the more scrambling Wearsiders will have to do in airports next year too.
I’m not entirely sure what to expect in the Europa League. On one hand, there are European giants such as Juventus, Milan and Marseille. On the other, the league phase will see us face clubs from leagues considerably weaker than our own.
To be honest, I’m not sure I want to set expectations.
It’s a free hit and, ultimately, it’ll be an incredible privilege to watch Sunderland compete on the continent. I just want to enjoy every moment of it.
Like pre-season, it will also allow a number of squad players to gain valuable minutes in their development. We have so much young talent in the squad – from both the academy and elsewhere – and if we want to cope with the additional fixtures, they’ll need to be used.
A personal bugbear of mine is when clubs work so hard to qualify for Europe and then either resent the competition because of a dip in league form or field heavily weakened sides and treat it as a burden. I don’t want to see either from Sunderland next season and, although rotation will be needed, we should treat this as the honour it is.
We should qualify for the knockout phase of the competition. Beyond that, who knows? But I’d like us to give it everything we’ve got.
It doesn’t need to be said just how much our league performances will matter and, whilst I don’t expect us to get close to the seventh place we achieved last season, I don’t think relegation should be in our minds either.
One thing Sunderland rarely experience is a boring season – and part of me wants one.
I don’t mean in the sense that I don’t want another “Brobbey at St James’ Park” or “Talbi at Chelsea” moment. I mean I want stability. Continuing to play in the Premier League provides us with a financial foundation that’s simply too valuable to lose. The longer we remain there, the more opportunity we’ll have to look upwards.
As I’ve said, relegation shouldn’t really be a concern, but as much as I don’t believe Le Bris will allow it, complacency after staying up as a promoted side is a danger. I remember Sheffield United finishing ninth under Chris Wilder, only to end up rock bottom the following season.
Maybe the right word is “comfortable”.
Lower mid-table shouldn’t be frowned upon. It’s within recent memory that Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest were Championship regulars, but now the thought of either being relegated would be viewed as a major surprise.
Ultimately, I think there’s too much quality in this squad for us to have serious concerns next season.
The addition of Thomas Meunier adds to a wealth of experience from Europe’s top leagues, and sometimes that nous alone can get you through difficult games.
We have a coach who’s incredibly pragmatic and consistently found solutions when we lost Granit Xhaka through injury, suffered a number of injuries at centre-back and even during AFCON. There’s so much to be positive about, even if teams balancing European football have historically found life more difficult domestically.
Finally, I think one of our greatest strengths is the flexibility of the squad – and let’s take the defence as an example.
At right-back, you’d expect Hume to start. The recent addition of Meunier means we have a ready and able deputy and, if needed, Nordi Mukiele looked more than comfortable in that role.
Mukiele can also operate centrally alongside Omar Alderete, Ballard and Luke O’Nien. Reinildo’s only current backup is Arthur Masuaku, although you’d expect another reinforcement to arrive. Altogether, this is a back line that has operated as both a back four and a back three without any real issues.
We also have a number of options in the attacking areas.
Habib Diarra can rotate with Enzo Le Fée in the hole if required, and Wilson Isidor has proved he can score goals at this level should Brobbey need a rest.
Of course, there are still areas to address, and I’m sure Florent Ghisolfi and the recruitment team will do exactly that, but there are different types of signing.
Meunier is a perfect example of a floor-raiser – someone who probably won’t tear up any trees but will ensure the baseline quality of the squad is improved.
Ultimately, I believe the floor of the squad is already at a good level and isn’t something we really need to worry about, but we could yet see the addition of another ceiling-raiser such as Xhaka, Le Fée or Brobbey – a player whose individual quality can change a game.
When you consider how often we sat deep and looked to counter last season, those kinds of players are incredibly valuable.
Last season was probably the best I can remember, albeit I’m only 26.
It’ll be difficult to top and, deep down, I think the mindset of a Sunderland supporter naturally errs on the side of caution. We have a lot to be excited about and we should enjoy every moment.
The players, the manager and the recruitment team have all earned our trust. It’s really important that next season we show them ours.
There’ll be moments when things don’t go to plan, when form dips or there’s a difficult defeat to take. We’ve seen the power of the Stadium of Light, but I also remember the days under Jack Ross when the anxiety seemed to suck the ball into our own net. We can’t let that happen again, and I doubt we will.
You can set your own expectations for next season. You can dream of European glory or another impressive league finish.
Most of all, when the Lads are tired after a late night in Bulgaria and it’s showing on the pitch, we’ll need to remember everything this group has given us and appreciate just how fortunate we are to witness it, regardless of where we finish in the league.