Tbh I don't know why some people think we rely on Ba so much for results when Sunderland are currently doing well despite having no real stand-out striker. Why do you think that you guys are capable of flying through results without such a player, whilst we're doomed to barely score without Ba?
When Ba is on the pitch, the team funnels the ball to him as he's the best finisher. Much in the same way that when you had Bent, your team funnelled the balls to him. It was simply logical to do that instead of anything else. With Ba often taking up the best position on the pitch, another Newcastle player obviously can't stand where Ba is standing, so he has to go elsewhere, leaving Ba as the best opportunity to score a goal.
However, with no stand-out striker like that, other players are more open to create goals themselves. Plus, we don't go down to 10 men. The position is filled by another striker who will score a few. Best had something like 8/9 goals in 15 apps when he had a consistent run of games, and with him getting games every week I expect him to score at least half of what Ba would have scored in the next 4/5 games, with other players chipping in. We've seen that players like Coloccini, Cabaye, Jonas, Ben Arfa and others can also score - Ben Arfa especially.
Sunderland can do well without any stand-out striker, and guess what, so can we. We don't rely on Ba. He's simply a big bonus on the ability we already have. Just look at how you guys are doing so well despite playing with 3 goals in 15 apps Bendtner. With a good manager and the right game plan, teams can keep chugging along just fine.
