Sunderland legend Marco Gabbiadini has given his verdict on the recent downturn in form under Mike Dodds.
Sunderland now find themselves in 12th place of the Championship table after a run of six-straight defeats in the Championship, capped with a 4-2 defeat at Southampton last weekend.
The Black Cats beat Plymouth Argyle 3-1 in February to move up into the top six.
Since, Sunderland have sacked Michael Beale and placed Dodds in charge, but the 37-year-old has lost all four of his games in temporary charge.
Dodds though certainly hasn’t been dealt an easy hand at Sunderland.
Marco Gabbiadini rues Sunderland injury list
Speaking on BBC’s Total Sport, pundit and former Sunderland striker Gabbiadini revealed the three things needed for a successful team; a good set up, good foundations, and key players.
But Gabbiadini believes Sunderland don’t have any key players in their ranks right now.
He said:
“At the moment we’ve got to try and be realistic and look at the issue we’re going to have before the end of the season because of missing key players.
“Teams have always been about, for me; you have to have a good, solid set up, good foundations, which Tony Mowbray definitely had, and key players, star players. Most teams who do well have that set up. And I think what’s happened with us is that we’ve lost some key players, [Alex] Pritchard a recent one, Ross Stewart, being without him for so long and then losing him, and now Jack Clarke, it makes it difficult for the rest of the group.”
Who is injured for Sunderland right now
Jack Clarke is currently sidelined and may well have played his last game for the club.
Elsewhere, all of Dennis Cirkin, Corry Evans, Aji Alese, Bradley Dack, Patrick Roberts, Elliot Embleton, Niall Huggins, Nazariy Rusyn, and Dan Ballard are injured right now.
Ballard though may be fit to return against QPR in the Championship on Saturday afternoon.
Black Cats lacking star quality
Gabbiadini’s comments aren’t to suggest that Sunderland don’t have good players in their ranks, because they certainly do.
But right now, and especially with Clarke out of the team, there’s a distinct lack of x-factor in the group.
Sunderland not only need someone to put the ball in the back of the net but also a player who can dictate a game single-handedly.
Clarke’s absence has highlighted maybe an air of average within the team, or at least a lack of balance in terms of quality with Sunderland just having nothing in the final third right now.
So in the summer, the Sunderland owners and Kristjaan Speakman might review their transfer strategy.
Instead of signing a number of young players from abroad, they might instead sign a couple, and then sign some players who can come in and hit the ground running.
The players signed last summer and in January arguably don’t improve the team in the here and now.
This is what Sunderland need; they’ll need someone to come in and replace Clarke in the summer and someone to replace the long-missing goal of Stewart.
They can’t rely on players like Romaine Mundle and Luis Hemir to do those jobs, because whilst they’re players with huge potential, they’re not players who can currently push Sunderland up the Championship table.
With regards to Gabbiadini’s comments, Sunderland have a good structure and foundation, albeit with mixed results of late, but they don’t have any key players available right now.
Drastic improvements are needed in the summer if Sunderland want to challenge for promotion.