Beale shares fans’ frustrations but defends decision
MICHAEL Beale insists he shares the frustrations of supporters after Sunderland fans chanted “we want a striker” during their side’s defeat at Ipswich. The Black Cats signed four frontmen over the summer but they have struggled in the Championship with just one goal between them so far.
And at Portman Road Beale opted to leave his specialist strikers on the bench and start with midfielder Jobe Bellingham up front, with fellow midfielder Alex Pritchard playing off him.
Beale brought on Nazariy Rusyn for the final five minutes, and then threw Mason Burstow into the mix with a minute remaining.
Asked why he had decided not to start with a striker, Beale said: “We did play with a striker. We played with Jobe there – he can play there and he has played there in games that we have won.
“We’ve got three young strikers [Eliezer Mayenda, Luis Hemir, and on-loan Chelsea man Burstow] who are adjusting to the league, I think it’s fair to say, and we’ve got another [Rusyn] who has done well. But I just thought the connection of the team was better with Pritchard playing off Jobe. It’s a situation I inherited, it’s something I am working away at.
“Since I came in,
Naz has had more moments on the pitch but I thought Abdoullah [Ba] had had a good week in training and deserved to play, and he was influential in the first goal. It’s a situation where I share some of the frustration of the fans, for sure, and the team does as well because we are looking for something up front that would help us. What I would say is that, if we find it, we are in a good position in the league and we can kick on from there.”