SUNDERLAND headed into the international break able to reflect on a successful two months that have set them up nicely for the remainder of the campaign.
How are the Black Cats looking - and what might be around the corner when club football resumes later this month?
HOW HAS THE SEASON GONE SO FAR?
Pretty well. It took Sunderland three matches to pick up their first point, but since edging out Rotherham at the Stadium of Light in mid-August, Tony Mowbray’s side have picked up 19 points in the space of nine games, a run that has taken them to fourth position in the Championship table.
There have been some difficult moments along the way, not least the second half of last weekend’s Wear-Tees derby when Sunderland crumbled with ten men, but on the whole, performances and results have been extremely positive.
Having won plenty of admirers with their swashbuckling attacking style last season, the Black Cats have been every bit as free-flowing during the current campaign, with their tally of 20 goals from 11 league games making them the fourth highest scorers in the Championship.
The five-goal home thrashing of Southampton was a notable highlight, with Sunderland outplaying their highly-rated opponents from start to finish, but the back-to-back away wins at QPR and Blackburn were equally impressive and showcased the Wearsiders’ attacking flair.
WHAT HAVE BEEN THE MAJOR POSITIVES?
The form of a number of key players stands out. Jack Clarke has been a revelation in the opening two months of the season, with his seven goals from wide attacking position out on the left making him the Championship’s joint-leading scorer.
When Amad Diallo left at the end of last season, there were fears that it would be impossible to replace the Manchester United loanee’s creativity and eye for goal. Clarke has stepped into the breach superbly, waltzing past opposition defences to prove there is no ill feeling from this summer’s failed transfer talks involving Burnley.
Dan Ballard is progressing nicely at the heart of central defence, while Trai Hume has maintained the standards he was setting last season and Niall Huggins has made a welcome return to action. While some of the summer signings are still to fully settle, Jobe Bellingham has slotted in seamlessly and already looks a hugely-exciting addition. The comparisons with his brother are inevitable, but the younger Bellingham brother is on his own footballing journey and looks an ideal fit for Mowbray’s philosophy and preferred playing style.
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Another major positive is that things appear to have settled down when it comes to Mowbray’s relationship with those above him. Signs of friction were all-to-obvious at the end of last season, but with Mowbray’s deal having been automatically extended by a year, a welcome degree of stability seems to have returned.
ANY CAUSES FOR CONCERN?
Two main ones. First, as was the case last season, the lack of a goalscoring centre-forward is a concern. Mason Burstow has displayed plenty of energy and endeavour while leading the line, but the Chelsea loanee has now gone six games without scoring his first Sunderland goal.
That sequence cannot be allowed to go on forever, but Mowbray clearly harbours concerns about the readiness of Nazariy Rusyn and Luis Hemir for a regular starting spot in the Championship. Hemir started the opening game of the season but was then demoted to the bench and has been trying to find his feet with the Under-21s, while the dragged-out nature of Rusyn’s arrival from Zorya Luhansk means the Ukrainian has effectively been playing catch-up in the last few weeks. At some stage, they will have to be thrown into the starting side to see if they sink or swim.
The other worry relates to January and the potential for the squad to be ripped apart. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman stood firm in the summer, rejecting a series of Burnley bids for Clarke, but will they adopt a similar stance if the figures rise at the turn of the year? Burnley and Brentford are both known to be considering January bids – if Clarke leaves, then no matter what sum Sunderland receive, he will be extremely hard to replace in the next window.
Ballard and Dan Neil are also on the radar of Premier League clubs, so January could be a difficult month to negotiate. If Sunderland are heading into February with their current squad intact, they will be in an extremely good place.
WHAT CHALLENGES ARE COMING UP?
Sunderland return to action with two tricky away games in the space of four days. Stoke might be struggling just above the relegation zone, but Potters boss Alex Neil will feel he has a point to prove after leaving Wearside at the start of last season, while Leicester have been sweeping all before them since returning to the Championship following last season’s relegation. If the Black Cats can avoid defeat in both of those games, they will have fared reasonably well.
Norwich are the next visitors to the Stadium of Light, on October 28, but the lack of a Carabao Cup game means Sunderland do at least have plenty of free midweeks before the final international break of the year in mid-November.
Looking further ahead than that, the fixture list from November to the end of the year looks reasonably inviting, with the home game against Leeds United on December 12 likely to prove a pre-Christmas highlight.
WHAT MIGHT HAPPEN IN JANUARY?
As previously discussed, that is the key question that could dictate the shape of the second half of Sunderland’s season.
Former chairman Sir Bob Murray has suggested that Louis-Dreyfus will not sell a key player while his side has a chance of winning promotion, but Mowbray’s recent comments on Clarke’s situation suggest he is not quite as sure that that will be the case.
It goes without saying that if Clarke is sold, some of the money will have to be reinvested into sourcing a replacement, but that will not be easy in the January window.
Could a return for Amad be an option? The Manchester United youngster suffered a serious knee injury in pre-season, but could return to action before the end of the month. If he does, he will have a couple of months to try to force his way into Erik ten Hag’s plans before the transfer window reopens. If he is unable to do that, a loan return to Wearside for the second half of the season is not out of the question.
In terms of other incomings, Sunderland could do with another central midfielder, preferably one whose strengths lean towards the defensive side of the game. Corry Evans has been a big miss, and while he is due to return at the turn of the year, he could well need a fair amount of time to get back to full speed. Bellingham has slotted in to replace the injured Pierre Ekwah in recent weeks, but Sunderland’s central-midfield options are clearly stretched.
Ultimately, though, the main focus in January will be on potential outgoings. Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman have enjoyed plenty of notable successes in the transfer market in the last couple of years – holding on to Clarke for a second window in succession would be their biggest one yet.
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