Cloud has a Silva lining for Hull – but not for Cats
MOYES HAS FAILED TO INSTIL CONFIDENCE, INSISTS WRIGHT
IAN Wright believes that Sunderland’s struggles this season must lie at David Moyes’ door – pointing to Hull City’s turnaround under Marco Silva as evidence.
The ex-Arsenal and England striker says the Black Cats have suffered from a lack of confidence and organisation, stemming from the Scot’s early-season comments that his side would be involved in a relegation battle.
And while Moyes was merely trying to be honest at the time, Wright says it can’t have done much to motivate his squad, unlike Silva at Hull who has improved the Tigers’ form significantly since taking over.
Wright, on his BBC Radio 606 phone-in show, was responding to a disheartened Sunderland fan who said that he didn’t feel like his side deserved to be in the top flight.
Wright said: “It’s sad to hear a Sunderland fan saying that he doesn’t believe that they’re a Premier League side because you look at Hull – look at Marco Silva who’s come in: nobody knew him but he’s confident in his coaching abilities.
“He’s come in and got them organised and if you watch them at home in their last few games they have looked like a Premier League team. They’re attacking with gusto, they’re playing with confidence and trying to score goals.
“So I believe (at Sunderland) it comes down to not only the board but the manager as well because it’s his job to get the players motivated. It’s his job to coach them in a way that they play better.”
He continued: “It’s not good to see how Sunderland are playing at the moment. It looks like they’ve given up; they gave up two weeks after the season started when Moyes said they’d be in a relegation fight.
“I didn’t see Silva come in and say ‘yeah, we’re right down there I don’t know if I’m going to get them out of it.’
“He came in and done his job because he’s a good coach.”
Wright also criticised the Sunderland board. “It’s the leadership,” he said. “There seems to be a disconnect with what’s going on upstairs.
“There’s the manager situation. I’m not sure about the managers that they’ve chosen in the last few seasons. They’ve sacked them freely.
“After Allardyce, with David Moyes coming in I thought his coaching ability would have been enough to organise Sunderland so that they could be difficult to beat.
“And when you’ve got a goalscorer of Jermain Defoe’s quality, then they got Adnan Januzaj on loan who has quality. If you can someone like him playing well along with the team of experienced players that they’ve got then they should be doing a lot better than they’re doing.”