When Emanuele Giaccherini joined Sunderland from Juventus for around £8.5m in the summer of 2013 he was hyped as a marquee signing capable of raising the bar at the Stadium of Light. Yet within weeks of his arrival Paolo Di Canio was sacked as manager and the Italy attacking midfielder found himself sidelined by Gus Poyet and overwhelmed by culture shock. It led to Giaccherini missing the World Cup but he returned for pre-season in vibrant form and now Poyet believes he is virtually like âa new signingâ. âGiacchi was one of the players who suffered most last season,â said Sunderlandâs manager. âIt was difficult for him, coming to a new country, things not going very well. He was one of the biggest signings, a lot was expected of him. Then the new manager came in and didnât play him. Advertisement âIt was a very difficult season for him. I think that most people would have given up and gone home but he is not that character. He took missing out on the World Cup in an incredible way â in a way I would not have done. âThen he came back to us in incredible form with lots of adrenaline. He wanted to show us who he is. The whole of pre-season we have talked about Giaccherini. I promise you the whole of it.â Along the way Poyet has radically altered his opinion of a player he had suggested was not suited to English football and did not fit into Sunderlandâs tactical blueprint. If the process began when Giaccherini made some telling, vital goal creating, substitute appearances as Sunderland made their great escape from relegation last spring, recent weeks have confirmed Poyetâs hunch he had misjudged a 29-year-old expected to start at home to Tottenham on Saturday after impressing on international duty with Italy. Advertisement âGiacchi is one of our biggest signings this summer and I am being serious,â said Poyet who was prevented from selecting the midfielder by a niggling injury last month. âI know where I can play him, how he fits in. âHeâs just played two 90 minutes for Italy and I have changed my mind completely about him. Giacchi has made me happy. I think heâs going to be great for us. I see him as a new player, a totally new player. â With Ricky Ãlvarez, another attacking midfielder, newly arrived from Internazionale on a season long loan, now on his books and Connor Wickham and Steven Fletcher two strikers keen to be deployed in central attacking roles, Poyet is pondering a switch to 4-4-2. The Uruguayan has generally remained faithful to variants of 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 but is contemplating change, particularly as Wickham is being played out of position wide on the left at present. âPlaying with two strikers is an option even if it is not the right one for me right now,â said Poyet. âIt depends on the next couple of games, my team is comfortable now because every player has a role and they know it but, at the same time Iâm not happy with Connor playing wide. I need him in the middle. We are more dangerous when we play with two strikers and I love 4-4-2. But to play that way you need an understanding of how to cover the pitch and I didnât think this team had that last season.â
It would be nice if he tried 4-4-2 and 4-1-4-1 doesn't work with the strikers we have at our disposal, if he insists on playing Fletcher up on his own. or even 4-1-3-2 Catts AJ Rodders Giacc Fletch Connor AJ & Fletch seem to work well together, Giacc and Wickham certainly do. If we get goals, then he can always revert back to a more counter-attacking 4-1-4-1, bring Seb and Jozy on for the top 2. Alvarez for Rodders when he tires. we'll see, eh.
As you have said Nords we now have choice of players, versatility and differing formations depending on how the games going. Just need Gus to get it right.
We really do have players who can change games/competition for places up front.... Buckley, AJ, Gomez, Giacc, Alvarez, Rodders, Seb fighting for 2-3 positions; Connor, Jozy, Fletch fighting for 1-2 places. Much deeper squad. As you say, the boss has to get it right/working. nee pressure Gus!
It worked just fine for large spells last season. In the league in the run up to christmas, on the cup run and the last 6 or 7 games. I'll accept that it doesn't work with Fletcher up front, but it's worked with both Jozy and Connor upfront. A 442 would imo lead to Rodwell getting crocked. with Catts protecting the defence Rodders would be ran ragged. Our present setup gives him extra protection imo
My main concern, as stated, is it doesn't work ( albeit yet, but it's a big yet as if it ever will) with Fletcher up top. Yep, it worked fine for some spells last season, but aside from the capital cup run when we beat 3 top level teams, our league form under Gus was: Won 9, Lost 15, Drew 7. A win ratio of 29% in the league. Yeah it wasn't a full season, nor his squad. His current squad/team needs a bit more time to settle and find a rhythm but the good thing is all of our midfielders are more than capable of scoring and assisting goals which bodes well for the 4-1-4-1. My concern is a lack of flexibility in formation. I enjoyed the football we played last year, it was very pleasing on the eye. but we often looked bereft of ideas/confidence when it came to killing other teams off. We have started similarly and I hope he manages a positive change / reaction soon.
