Sunderland are without a win in their last seven games now, currently sitting in 12th place of the Championship table.
Sunderland managed to halt a run of six-straight defeats with a hard-fought 0-0 draw against QPR in the Championship last Saturday.
On the day, the Black Cats had no shots on target, relying on goalkeeper Anthony Patterson to keep them in the game.
Mike Dodds praised the ‘unbelievable’ Patterson after the game, after the 23-year-old helped earn Dodds’ first point since taking interim charge.
He came in after Sunderland sacked Michael Beale last month, with the club winless since.
Sunderland under Mike Dodds
Beale lost his final two games in charge, arguably setting the tone for the four defeats that followed.
Dodds made some changes to the shape and to the XI but his changes have had mixed results, largely seen in the poor first half display of the defeat vs Swansea City in February.
Injuries haven’t helped Dodds; Jack Clarke is currently injured and so too are several other first-team players, including Patrick Roberts and Nazariy Rusyn who is sidelined for what could be a significant period of time.
Several players have failed to live up to expectations this season and several others have seen their form dip since Beale’s arrival; perhaps none more so than Abdoullah Ba.
Abdoullah Ba’s 2023/24 season so far
The 2022 signing from Le Havre has shown glimpses of brilliance since he arrived at the club, and this season he looked to have really stepped up.
He’s scored three and assisted four in 34 Championship outings for the Black Cats and shone in games against Stoke City and Watford much earlier in the campaign.
Consistency has often been his footfall, though, and since Clarke’s injury, Ba has failed to even come close to replacing the attacking void left by Clarke.
Particularly under Dodds, Ba has been poor, failing to register any goal contributions and finishing just one of the three games he’s started under the 37-year-old.
Pressure to blame for Ba’s poor form
Right now, these young Sunderland players are under a lot of pressure.
The point vs QPR is a good start on their road to recovery and their road to securing themselves another season in the second tier, but it’s certainly difficult.
And for Ba especially, there’s certainly an added pressure for him to contribute more with Clarke sidelined, but competing with the former Spurs man who’s scored 15 goals in the Championship this season was always going to be extremely difficult.
What’s more, Ba isn’t being helped by the likes of Luis Hemir; it’s becoming a common theme that the Portuguese forward doesn’t put in the work rate and doesn’t work the channels, which for Ba on the wing certainly won’t be a help.
Lastly, there’s a distinct lack of experience int eh first-team, let alone on the pitch for Sunderland, so when things are tough, there’s very few leaders out there on the pitch for players like Ba to look towards and to try and take inspiration from.
Ba remains a player with potential. Though great players are often made during these very difficult patches of form, and right now he’s not proving that he can handle the heat.