Journalist Phil Smith has told Sunderland one ‘tweak’ they need to make in the summer.
Sunderland‘s 2023/24 season is panning out to be a very drab one, with the Black Cats now sat in 12th and at risk of being sucked into a relegation scrap.
Whilst the idea of relegation still seems a distant one, if this run of six-straight defeats continues much longer, relegation could become a very real threat.
Mike Dodds is the man in charge after Sunderland sacked Michael Beale last month.
Dodds has so far lost all four of his games in temporary charge with the last being a 4-2 defeat vs Southampton last weekend.
Though injuries and suspensions haven’t helped the 37-year-old thus far.
Phil Smith says Sunderland focus on young players has gone ‘too far’
Against Southampton, Sunderland fielded one of the youngest-ever starting XIs the Championship has seen, with an average age of 20.8 years in the starting XI that day.
Dan Ballard at 24 years old was the most senior player in the starting side that day, but whilst Sunderland did well to get back in the game at 2-2, it never seemed like a game they would take something from.
And what’s been highlighted over the past few weeks; with the injury to Jack Clarke, Ballard and Luke O’Nien being suspended for certain games, and injuries across the board in general, is a lack of experience and quality in the team.
A lack of experience in particular seems to be a footfall for Sunderland right now, and Sunderland Echo journalist Smith highlighted this.
Speaking ahead of the QPR game on Saturday afternoon, Smith said:
“At the moment, it’s gone a little too far towards those young players, and they need a little bit of help. And he [Dodds] did almost accept that this run of really poor form has shown that there is a little bit of a need for more experience and a bit more depth in the squad… Maybe this run has shown that, moving forward, if Sunderland are going to get out of this division next season, they’re going to have to have a little bit of a tweak.”
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman coming under criticism
Ultimately, the buck stops with owners in football.
Whilst managers and maybe players will take some criticism, it’s the owners who put everything in place, and this season, all that was in place seems to have been pulled apart.
Sunderland had a very good season last time round and expectations were sky high for this season; maybe too high after arguably over-achieving last time round, but still, by Sunderland standards, this campaign has been disappointing.
It’s a team brimming with potential and quality, but like Smith alludes too, the key ingredient that’s missing is experience.
No Danny Batth, no Alex Pritchard, no Patrick Roberts and no Clarke in the side has really taken the balance out of this team, and during what is a very torrid run, experience is crucial.
In the summer, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman will hopefully learn from this rough patch, and add some much-needed balance to the first-team.
Sunderland simply have to hope they have enough quality to last the run-in now, though with teams below them picking up points, it’s certainly panning out to be a very wary end to the season for the Black Cats.