A string of six straight games without a win to start the Premier League season made Gus Poyet’s promise that Sunderland would no longer suffer seem like fodder but to the manager’s credit, his team never folded. In the end, they fought for their coach and rallied valiantly to avoid the relegation zone. It’s hard to say for sure what the future holds for Poyet and his club but there weren’t enough promising signs from this past season to think that Sunderland is a lock to avoid relegation next year. Here is a look at four important things we learned from Sunderland this past season.
The Suffering Isn’t Over Yet
Despite Poyet stating before the year that there “will be no more miracles and no more suffering” for Sunderland, it wasn’t exactly true. Their fans watched them fall into an early hole and have to fight the entire season to avoid the relegation zone. The low point in their season appeared to be when they were blown away 8-0 by Southampton but the humiliation didn’t end there as Sunderland gave its fans something to remember when they were beaten up 4-0 at home in their season finale. The only bright spot was that they had 38 points entering that game and that was good enough to finish in a tie with Aston Villa and three points better than 18th Hull City.
Slightly disappointed that Poyet wasn’t sacked live on TV like last time… https://t.co/FJ7ayFcXOW @markchapman
— Nooruddean (@BeardedGenius) March 16, 2015
It’s no surprise that at the end of it all, Poyet was handed a pink slip. While he might be done at Sunderland, there is still no way to say for sure when the suffering will end at the Stadium of Light.
Lack Of Goal Scoring Needs To Be Addressed
Jermain Defoe seemed like the answer up front at Sunderland when he arrived from Toronto FC in January – especially when he scored two goals in his first three games. However, Defoe finished the year with only four goals and by the time the season ended, there were serious question marks about whether he was the right man up top for this team. Defoe will need to be more consistent next season and while a full offseason should help him develop his chemistry and comfort with the club, he certainly can’t do it alone. Conor Wickham and Danny Graham need to prove they can provide some secondary scoring up front. On the whole, this team finished with just 31 goals in 38 games, which was the second-fewest tallies in the EPL. It will be on Sunderland to find more offense and that likely starts with some replacements up front at the striker position.
The Back Line Is Far From Set
Wes Miles has signed on for another year with the club but the back line is still far from set. If one area is to be spotlighted, the centre-back position could use an upgrade, but overall, this is a team that allowed 57 goals last season. Only two other EPL teams gave up more. What’s worse is that the same was true at home as only two other teams gave up more at home than Sunderland. They simply have to be better at home.
Sunderland has a handful of potential targets in its sights including Carl Jenkinson and Virgil van Dijk but whether or not they can get them will be an interesting story to keep an eye on.
Dick Advocaat Is The Manager For The Job
While the team has issues both up front and on their back line that need to be resolved, they appear to have found the right man to lead them in to the future in manager Dick Advocaat. He proved to be a calming presence over the second half of the season and both his experience and demeanour will help him with a team that will need to constantly be pushed in order to remain above the relegation zone looking forward to next season.
