After encountering a prolific striker in fine form on Sunday, could Sunderland sign a similar player next month?
When Dominic Calvert-Lewin ghosted into the box to slot home a deserved Leeds equaliser on Sunday afternoon, it was hard not to be impressed with both the ease of the finish and the quality of the visitors’ build up play.
OK, a Sunderland defensive lapse opened the door for the visitors but the former Everton centre forward — blessed with superb mobility, awareness and finishing instincts — is currently on a white-hot streak in front of goal and assuming Leeds can keep him fit, blessed with reliable service and therefore amongst the goals, it’s fair to say they’ll have very little to worry about when it comes to the relegation battle.
Would I have liked Calvert-Lewin or a natural finisher of his ilk to have joined Sunderland last summer? Arguably, yes, but you just know that if we’d taken a punt on him as a free agent, his hamstring would’ve gone “twang” after two training sessions and the dreaded “six to eight weeks” prognosis would’ve been wheeled out, such is our misfortune with injuries.
Still, more power to Daniel Farke’s side for deciding that Calvert-Lewin was worth a shot, and as he continued his impressive renaissance following several injury-interrupted campaigns, it was a tale of “what might’ve been” for Sunderland’s first-choice striker.
Brian Brobbey didn’t play badly by any means on Sunday.
His physical presence caused the visiting defence issues all afternoon and had a powerful header from an accurate Simon Adingra cross dipped under the crossbar, the entire dynamic would’ve been different.
Generally speaking, I do feel he’s made a positive impression since joining the club, and if he can just sharpen up a touch in front of goal, he could easily finish the season with ten league strikes — by no means a poor return for a debutant.
However, if Brobbey’s industry and work rate are proving effective, the mercurial Wilson Isidor is finding the going much tougher.
His barren streak in front of goal is showing no signs of ending, whilst Eliezer Mayenda’s regression from playoff hero to fringe attacker (ironically, he looked extremely lively and arguably most likely to make something happen when he came on against Leeds) has been difficult to fathom, so the red and white strike force is something of a talking point right now.
Sunderland’s relatively minor goal threat from our strikers and our promising league position may be jarring to the “statistics are everything” brigade, but they aren’t one and the same.
Fortunately, we’ve been able to spread the goals around — Adingra himself becoming the latest player on the roll call after a sumptuous assist from Granit Xhaka on Sunday — and combined with our no-nonsense attitude and wholehearted approach to defending, it’s enabled us to remain very much on course for a top ten finish. That’s not a matter of luck — it’s a result of superb organisation, resilience and nous.
That said, can you ever have “too much” firepower at your disposal?
Assuming — as was hinted at by Régis Le Bris last week — that Mayenda is loaned out next month, will we seek to fill the subsequent vacancy with more of a predatory finisher; someone for whom a half-chance represents an excellent opening and can convert opportunities that come their way with dead-eye reliability?
After a summer during which we unearthed several gems in the transfer market, the odds of lightning striking again in the form of a prolific centre forward may be lengthy, but if we truly want to make a statement during our first season back in the Premier League, such a move could make a big difference.
I do feel that as a whole, the balance is heavily tilted towards being solid, steady and hard to break down, and that we could pose more of an attacking threat if we were that way inclined. That said, I also fully accept that Le Bris’ pragmatism has enabled us to compete very strongly and has had an incredibly positive impact — something that’s reflected in our current league position.
It’s process; an ongoing puzzle, and something that we’re clearly working on, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in this regard during the transfer window.
In terms of our current options, Brobbey is a workhorse, Isidor is a magician and Mayenda is a talented if raw prospect. Nobody could knock their attitude and application, and all three could become fine Premier League players in time.
However, we faced a predatory striker on Sunday and we’ll be coming up against a stone-cold assassin tomorrow night in the shape of Erling Haaland. If Sunderland want to continue to build on what’s been a highly promising season so far, perhaps looking at other clubs for inspiration may not be the worst idea in the world.
Time will tell.
Category: General Sports
