Are we as good as some think we are or as bad as others say we are? Now Iââ¬â¢m going to try and give my honest opinion on both and try to be unbiased, but, after 50 years of following Sunderland itââ¬â¢s hard not to lean in their favour but I will do my best. Are we as good as some think? Sitting 7th there are those who think we could make the top 6 and even higher and without a shadow of a doubt we are better equipped now than for many a year. Lets look t the teams we have to beat to make it or more to the point the squads. On our day we could beat any of them but to crack the top 4 you need to have lots of those days. Man U/Chelsea/Arsenal, getting nearer but still away to go. Man City, before the oil money arrived yes but not now, they have world beaters in every position and are now starting to get them playing as a team. Spurs a few seasons ago I would have said yes but Harry, love him or hate him, as built a very strong squad who are on the verge of a real top 4 challenge. Liverpool pre King Kenny looked a team in freefall but they always had good players and now look strong again and getting stronger. So my answer is no, we are not as good as some thing but we are getting closer. We are now getting some top players who we need to keep but what stops us is time, time to replace some good players with very good players. We still have a mix of the Richardsonââ¬â¢s, Steeds and Zen dens, who can be brilliant but either inconsistent or simply at the wrong end of their career. Mixed with them are the young bucks, Henderson, Elmo, Mayler to name but 3, good players but players who still need time to develop. Are we as bad as some say? Well yes, itââ¬â¢s Bent and Capello Iââ¬â¢m thinking of, you know what they have said and itââ¬â¢s not what they say thatââ¬â¢s the problem, itââ¬â¢s that they miss the point and are a season out. Did we use Bent as the out and out in the box goal getter, yes we did, why, because thatââ¬â¢s what he is. Did he get the service and movement that a Downing or Young would have given him, no, but he did score 20+ goals so something must have gone right. The truth IMO is basic, we needed an out and out goal scorer, we got one and last season Cappelo was right, it was our style. This season we replaced Jones with Gyan and Welbeck, 2 team players who make and score. Bent did not fit so moved to Villa who need an out and out goal scorer. In summary, we are now a top 8 side IMO and maybe a year away from a top 6 side. Bent moved not because he needed a team to allow him to become more of an all round team player but because we had out grown him. Itââ¬â¢s why he left Spurs and why he will leave Villa. Sunderland are doing very well thank you.
I think signing Sessegnon and Muntari makes our position more 'worthy' if you like. Prior to our arrival, we had done magnificently to get to that level with a midfield which was sorely wanting without Cattermole. As it stands, i don't see us moving much i feel we will finish exactly where we are, and i feel that if you break squads down player by player, 7th or 8th is about right. The correct striker bought in the summer, and maybe a centre half who is more dominant in the air, and we could push higher still next season. Whatever peoples opinions of us , the progress has been staggering, and now not only are we an established premier league side, we are a very good one.
top ten deffo, 7th or 8th probably. just the fact that we are attracting the sort of player we have signed recently is really quite exciting, and i know it's a bit of a moot point at the moment, but i think it is important that we hold onto hendo and show people that we are a club with ambition, there is no doubt in my mind that he will be a great player in the future, why not with us?
by the way syd, 50 years, i think you deserve a long service(suffering)medal, it's only been 45 for me!!!!!
I suffered the first relegation when I was 13. I saw my first match when I was 8 in 1953 so I am one of the old codgers
I will try and give a short answer Are Chelsea a top 4 / 5 team? The answer is no they should be a top 1 / 2 team fighting out with Man Utd... but for some reason this season they have either bottled it (imo) or they have been outclassed, the 0-3 instantly coming to mind .. so teams can be better / worse than what you think they should be on paper.. So I usually look at it from the other angle - "If we were playing against the names on the team sheet - how would I feel?" I am going to commit a forum sin I am sure - but Poolie Mackem kindly posted a theoretical team for when Campbell gets back into fitness ------------------- Gordon ------------------ - Onuoha - Bramble ------ Mensah - Bardsley - ----- Sessegnon - Cattermole - Muntari ------ - Campbell --------- Gyan ---------- Welbeck And that team - if we had to play against it - would scare the absolute hell out of me... and I haven't had that feeling of WOW ... in some time For sure we can bring in another striker, but we have to prove to be an upward team for the better players to take the risk with us, and this is what we can now start doing to convince players we are here to stay So yeah - we have progressed and to currently be in 7th - with say a Chelsea team being in 4th, Liverpool just above us in 6th... I think brings it home how well we are doing
Well the problems with our team atm are 1. Defence against the skunks and stoke out ability to defend against aerial bombardment was found out. Perhaps with Turner back we may be better. 2. Well of course we have to let the two news guys settle in, but either Hendo or Catt or Meyler have to improve or need replacing. 3. Strikers, basic lack of qualified personnel, due to injuries and turncoats. 4. Squad too thin, if you look at our bench for the past few games there has been a paucity of talent that we could bring on. So I currently rate us as a top half team and if we can address the issues mention mentioned above we could become a top 6. Not forgetting the refs contribution (or lack of it) at stoke of course. This point means we have to 'a la terry' get into the head of the ref which I am not sure Bramble does enough, so another improvement called for. When SB first arrived it was a general opinion that it would take 3 season to get the side sorted, well next season for me is the big one, top six has to be the aim.
I think with the squad we have now we can deffo finish top 10. The real test comes this summer just to keep the squad we have now its going to cost around 14/19m Elmo 2/3m Ned 5/6m Mensah 2/3m Muntari 5/7m Welbeck (not for sale) Then we need a replacement for Bent so if we bringing in the loan players & a new forward SB will need to spend around 30/35m in the summer. I know SAF said Welbeck is not for sale but maybe we could loan him for another season.
I've said all season that i don't see us qualifying for Europe, simply because i don't think we're good enough. We've got ourselves into a great position in what has been the most unpredictable season i've witnessed. However, certain aspects of out football has been very weak. Despite being ahead of Everton, Liverpool and Villa for a large proportion of the season, those teams still play more complete football that ourselves. I'm starting to change my opinion now, though. Sessegnon and muntari look like they're going to be excellent players for us and could make us a genuine top 6 or 7 team. Also, we've had some really terrible luck with injuries and who's to say we wouldn't be in an even more strong position had it not been for those injuries. We'll have to get the balance right with the team. Against Chelsea and Stoke, the balance of out team was very, very poor. With the players at out disposal, we ought to play much better football. We're seeing flashes of what we're capable of with Gyan, Welbeck, Sessegnon, Muntari etc...but it wont count for much if we're not well balanced and are tactically poor.
This is, in my opinion, the best squad I have ever seen. Our problem is, and has always been, consistency. Our success this season has been our defence and the number of clean sheets we have. Now we have the players (bar one or two positions) to play exciting attacking football and as soon as we do that we start leaking goals. Yes it was Chelsea who are back on form and Stoke with their aerial bombardment but until we get the balance right we will always fall short. However when I say fall short now it means in terms of qualifying for the Europa League which of course is a massive improvement on previous seasons. We have the board, the manager and now the players in place and if they stay together, along with a couple of additions in the summer, could go on to great things.
I have always maintained a top 10 finish this term would be spot on. With the improvements we have made to the squad, this we should accomplish comfortably. People were talking about Europe last year and we went on that dire run. A couple of more players in the summer and I honestly believe we will be contenders for an easy top 6 finish. One point about Liverpool, the difference Carragher made to them was immense, not his speed, power or technical ability. His knowledge of the game, he was reading everything Chelsea were doing, if not nullifying it himself shouting at others where to go.
Read sunderpits reply and was quite surprised at his thinking the squad was too thin. Think we have to take into account all the injuries and yes we still need to strengthen but the squad being thin not so sure about that one If we went with the team suggested by Reading then added the subs we could use if everyone is fit then this could be our squad on any given day. ------------------- Gordon ------------------ - Onuoha - Bramble ------ Mensah - Bardsley - ----- Sessegnon - Cattermole - Muntari ------ - Campbell --------- Gyan ---------- Welbeck Subs from Mignolet Angeleri Ferdinand Turner Meyler Malbranque Zenden Henderson Richardson Elmo Riveros Thats a squad of 22 which I would consider to be pretty strong. As for the 7th/8th position think that is fair reflection of where we are this season with this squad. However if things go well I still think if everyone was fit we could well be capable of 6th and at a pinch maybe 5th. Of course to maintain our levels and to push on next season a lot will depend on what happens with the loanees, 5 of the squad who could arguably be regular first teamers fall into that category. We need to tie these players up so next season we are starting with the current squad as the base and then fine tuning to strengthen further. What we dont want is to lose these players otherwise we could actually end up worse off by having to replace them with someone the same or not as good. So yeah we are doing very well and should push on but just a little bit of caution in getting over excited
I'm with Reading on this. At full strength (hopefully), going into the run-in games, we will see a glimpse of next season's potential. I think this season, 7th or 8th will be satisfactory although I do want to see a decent battle with LFC for 6th. But 9th or 10th would be very disappointing. Syd's original question was IMO we are better, potentially, than 7th or 6th but youth and inexperience has cost us points this season that we will not drop next time - like the Catts red cards, Fabregas fluke, Kuyt goal at Anfield, crap officiating at the Britannia . . . Plus whatever signings Brucey brings in over the summer, although I would be delighted if he busts the budget on Danny Welbeck. We don't need much more by way of new blood, just a settling down with what we have, IMO
That squad would look much better/worse if we knew how Angeleri and Riveros are going to shape up. Angeleri would give us the option of releasing Onuoha for central defence if need be - and that would give Big John the year he needs for his operation. An on-stream Angeleri would be a big plus. Our midfield doesn't look anywhere near as short of creative skills as it did in December - Muntari and Sessegnon are very welcome. But, with the silky skills we all know Riveros possesses, it would offer us some brilliant options if he came good. I guess it's a matter of wait and see with those two. I'm not really obsessed with a Europa place this season, though, of course, it would be nice. I prefer to think of the bottom seven places - where we were just nine short months ago! Wow, how good is this today?
