One former Sunderland man once compared himself to World Cup winner Thomas Muller during his time on Wearside.
It is safe to say that Sunderland never had a quiet season in the Premier League in the early 2010s, with the Black Cats often evading relegation in spectacular circumstances.
Many great escapes were master-minded, but none come quite close to Gus Poyet’s first season at Sunderland. In that Black Cats squad that completed the ‘miracle’ escape from the drop, there were several top players, including Fabio Borini, who bagged the winning goal in the win against Newcastle United at home, a clash that was crucial for Poyet’s side.
Borini, when on his top game, was a brilliant Premier League talent, and it was certainly something that he recognised himself after he once compared himself to Champions League and World Cup winner Thomas Muller for one reason.
Sunderland attacker Fabio Borini once compared himself to Thomas Muller for one clear reason
Borini notched 93 appearances for Sunderland, his highest for any side, and it saw him bag a total of 17 goals, seven of which fell in that 2013/14 campaign.
He also showed his brilliance as part of Sam Allardyce’s squad in the 2015/16 campaign, in which he played an important role as Sunderland survived the drop in terrific circumstances.
In that campaign, Sunderland attacker Borini was interviewed by The Guardian, in which he spoke about the campaign so far under Allardyce and the prospects of survival, which, because of a run of three wins in five, helped secure their Premier League safety at home against Everton.
Borini also spoke about the player he played similarly to, as he said: “I call my role a blind job because people don’t notice the work you’re doing,” says Borini. “I feel a bit like Thomas Müller at Bayern Munich – they pick him because he does a lot of blind jobs, which makes things easier for everyone else.”
Sam Allardyce brought the very best out of every Black Cats man
With Sunderland suffering an incredibly difficult start to the 2015/16 Premier League campaign, in which saw Dick Advocaat unable to notch a single win in his start to the league season, plenty of hope had been lost when Allardyce joined the club, not because of the managerial change, but the players he had at his disposal.
Nonetheless, the Black Cats boss worked incredibly well with the group he was given, notably playing into the strengths of Jermain Defoe up top. Unfortunately, Allardyce’s achievements merely papered over the cracks of the inevitable relegation that Sunderland were set to suffer, but he gave the club a brilliant foundation to build on after he left, something that simply wasn’t capitalised upon.