How will Johnson address Black Cats’ goal shortage?
With a takeover nearing and Sunderland making their first moves into the transfer market, there was plenty to discuss in our weekly Q&A with readers.
You can read all the questions and answers from Phil Smith below….
Whycan’twescoregoals? And why aren’t we doing anything about it?
I think it’s pretty much Lee Johnson’s top priority to do that this month, but he’ll go about it in a couple of ways.
He has already spoken about having good, technical players who he rates highly, but too many who want to come to the ball and a shortage of players whose instinct it is to get in behind and stretch the game.
‘Disrupting’ the opposition back four is a central part of his attacking game plan and mixing up the threat in his side is a key priority this month.
JackDiamond’simpacthas changed the picture somewhat, but it’s clear that he will still be open to adding another attacking option and most likely in central areas.
The issue as we know is that Sunderland have a lot of bodies in that department and finding another suitor for them will not be straightforward as a result.
There was some positive news on Friday regarding the seriousness of Will Grigg’s knee issue. Either way, I’d be surprised if there wasn’t an attacking addition this month.
AnotherthingJohnsonhas mentioned was that while he rates his midfield options, he feels there is perhaps a lack of creativity. Sunderland are certainly a little too reliant on Grant Leadbitter in terms of playing those high-risk/reward passes.
That’s another area where he could potentially look to boost the attacking threat of his side more generally. The return of the club’s best fullback options from injury will certainly help, too.
Do you think Johnson might put Luke O'Nien back inhisproperpositionofcentral midfield to give us some kind of attacking threat and guile from there?
I think that reflects how
well Luke O’Nien has done since arriving.
He’s been one of Sunderland’s best players, has adapted superbly to a new position, and the general perception for all of us is that he still has more to give. At the moment, O’Nien gives an awful lot to the side’s balance from full-back, because of his energy and willingness to get forward.
Conor McLaughlin has done well this season but ideally you’d want O’Nien and Hume in those positions to improve the team’s threat generally.
Dion Sanderson is making his mark, though, and maybe there’s a scenario in which he can replicate that threat from right-back and allow O’Nien to move a little further forward.
Generally, I think Johnson is eager to give himself more options in midfield. He rates Leadbitter,ScowenandPower but he will want more options and we haven’t seen much of
George Dobson of late.
I expect him to do that through the transfer market and he has targets in midfield positions, rather than moving O’Nien, but it will be one to watch when he’s fit again.
What have you made of Lee Johnson's performance as manager so far?
It’s been difficult to make an assessment because it has been such a disjointed period and there has been next to no timetoworkregularlywiththe players.
I think generally it’s enc ou ra g i n g th at a l o n g s id e Speakman, there is a refreshing commitment to thinking about things a little differently to recruitment and I’ve no doubt that in time, we’ll see that create a more dynamic team on the pitch.
Even in the short time we’ve had to judge so far, I think we’ve seen a desire to be a more attacking outfit.
Hopefully, that will bring results, but as with every manager/head coach, it’s all about what support is in place for them. The recruitment department, still hugely underpowered, is the perfect example of that.
Are we good enough to go up and which teams do you think have been the best you've seen in the league this season?
I think it’s still a very open league and to be honest, I don’t think there’s a side who is really standing out as significantly better than the rest.
Portsmouth were excellent at the Stadium of Light, strong and quick, and I suspect if you finish above them you’ll win automatic promotion.
To be honest, the side who’ve most impressed me most otherwise have been MK Dons! I thought their pace and commitment to their style was excellent. Clearly they’ve struggled with consistency on the whole and I think it reflects the fact that this isn’t the strongest League One we’ve seen.
I’ve been really impressed with how Lincoln City have bounced back from a dip, and you have to respect how they andHullCityhavechurnedout results so far.
Generally though it’s there for the taking, and you can see that through how Oxford United have climbed right back into play-off contention after a wretched start to the season.
So there should still be a real chance for Sunderland, but that the gap to the top two is already widening.
They need to find some consistency very, very quickly andthey badlyneedsomevariety in their attacking options.
It’s been a disjointed period of late, but Sunderland’s inability to consistently beat sides in the bottom half of the table is a long-running issue.
If they don’t solve that, they won’t make up the ground.