Sunderland come up against West Ham United at the Stadium of Light in their next Premier League fixture. West Ham are in form this season, especially away from home, and have already beaten Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City on their travels. They will be high in confidence coming into this fixture on the back of their away exploits, but can a Sunderland side who are currently bottom of the table pick up their first win of the season in front of a large home crowd?
Can Sunderland get their season going against West Ham?
Many Sunderland fans will be wondering what it is going to take to get their first win of the season in the league. This is not the first time they have been on a winless streak at the beginning of a season; it seems to happen far too frequently as far as Sunderland fans are concerned. Dick Advocaat does have options going into this game, however; whether he chooses to use any or if these options will produce a victory, we’ll have to wait until full time to find out. Here are some of the options and strategies available to the Sunderland head coach.
Replace Patrick van Aanholt
Is it definitely time now for van Aanholt to be taken out of the firing line? He has had a nightmare start to the season and keeping him in the team could harm his confidence and self belief even more. The opposition know he is the side’s weakest link in defence at the moment and they are targeting him, and rightly so. With that being said, van Aanholt is the only specialist left-back in the squad, and taking him out could leave the team unbalanced. On the other hand, could another player suffer as much?
Bring Defoe back in against his old club
Jermain Defoe has sat out the last two games against the two Manchester sides, United and City. Maybe a recall against his old club could be an ace up Advocaat’s sleeve. We are always hearing about players scoring against their old clubs, and Defoe will want to prove to the head coach that he should be in the starting line-up every week.
Is it time already to drop Jeremain Lens?
There is no doubt the Jeremain Lens is a good player going forward, he’s quick, direct and is capable of scoring goals. However, his teamwork has left a lot to be desired since his arrival on Wearside. Criticism has been aimed at him for not tracking back when he loses the ball or when the opposition are attacking which can leave gaps and the full back in a two versus one situation. Dick Advocaat has mentioned several times that Lens must help out defensively, whether he is capable of this is another matter. As I mentioned he is a good player and has played in the central striking role at previous clubs. Maybe Lens should be deployed as the central striker thus eliminating a lot of the defensive duties, which he clearly does not favour? A front three of Lens, Borini and either Defoe or Watmore could prove effective.
Is now the time for Watmore?
Duncan Watmore has started this season for the U21 side the way he finished last season: bang in form. This form has included a hat trick against the Manchester City U21 side. He has also become a fixture in the England U21 side, as well as scoring twice when coming off the bench for Sunderland’s first team this season. Coming off the bench three times has been his lot as far as first team football has been concerned though. Obviously there is a big step up from playing U21 football to first team football in the Premier League but with Sunderland low on confidence and ideas, maybe a fresh, inform U21 international and potential star of the future may not be such a bad idea at the moment. Some other U21 players are performing well too, maybe its time they were given a chance, at least on the bench.
Could Jack Rodwell fill in at CB?
While at Everton, many of their fans believed that, in their view the best position for Rodwell was actually in central defence. After there being high hopes, he has failed to impress many Sunderland supporters since arriving just over a year ago from Manchester City. Maybe Rodwell could help out a Sunderland defence that has been leaking goals far too easily this season? At 6 foot 2 he has the presence to play there, and a return to a position he played at his first club many years ago could be what the player and Sunderland need at the minute. The possibility that Younes Kaboul could be sidelined for the game could force Advocaat’s hand into playing Rodwell ahead of the likes of Sebastian Coates who has not taken his form at the end of last season into this one.
Larsson could come back into the team
“Set piece” expert Seb Larsson could come back into the team, possibly ahead of new signing Ola Toivonen who still seems to be struggling for match fitness even though he has showed glimpses of what he is capable of. Larsson in a midfield three with Lee Cattermole and Yann M’Vila could give the midfield that bit more energy as Larsson, even though he has his faults will chase, close down opponents and can pass a ball well. Even though he hasn’t set the world alight in this department of late he is also capable of delivering a good set piece.
Is it time to get back to old school basics?
Dick Advocaat’s preferred formation throughout his career has been 4-3-3. This formation though for most of the time this season hasn’t worked, this could be down to the players not being comfortable with the formation or simply the formation itself is not suited to a Premier League club struggling at the wrong end of the table. Maybe a change to a 4-4-2 may work better with players at Advocaat’s disposal. Jermain Defoe in particular has had most of his success when playing with a strike partner. Could he and Fabio Borini play together and forge a good partnership? No reason why not but in this day and age there are few team still playing the good old 4-4-2 so this could leave gaps for the opposition to exploit.
A big crowd is expected at the Stadium of Light for this game, over 42,000. They will give their team their full backing from the off and as long as the team are showing fight and giving their all then that level of support will not change, win lose or draw. There have also been various rumours of the Sunderland head coach moving on if the team are defeated in this game. After a summer of trying to persuade him to stay, it would be a shame if he did go so early into the season. Sunderland supporters have everything crossed that the team can do everything they can on the pitch to kick start their season.
