This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…
There are several Sunderland players underperforming currently but it is fair to suggest that the left flank is one of the areas most in need of improvement.
On the chalkboard
Sunderland have looked toothless up-front for much of Phil Parkinson’s reign but one man who has shown a bit of invention – although far too rarely – is Aiden McGeady.
He may be 33-years-old now but he is still capable of winning games for the Black Cats, his performance in the FA Cup against Gillingham a few weeks ago showing the quality he brings to the side.
The problem Parkinson has is that he doesn’t display such attributes often enough, but the Irishman isn’t solely to blame, and would benefit significantly from a full-back who was more adept in attack than Denver Hume.
The youngster has done well at times considering his lack of experience but a pass accuracy of 64% simply isn’t good enough for a team aiming for promotion, and too often it means he lets down McGeady.
Laurens De Bock is the alternative choice in that position, and though he is yet to be given a regular run in the side he has certain attributes which could serve Sunderland well, and is, therefore, an option Parkinson should give serious consideration to.
More attacking ambition
The Belgian has played in just two league games so far but averaged 1.5 key passes from those matches, and it is that kind of cutting edge in the attacking final third which is exactly what Sunderland need.
They have only scored three goals in the previous five matches and that means the likes of Will Grigg and Chris Maguire need to receive the ball in goalscoring positions more often.
Hume doesn’t possess the same kind of threat from out wide, averaging just 0.8 key passes per game, and often there is too much responsibility on McGeady to provide service or a moment of magic to get a goal.
Instead, he needs support from his teammates, either players providing an option on the overlap or underlap or getting closer to him in order to drag defenders away and create space for him to move into.
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Against Coventry he almost equalised with a shot from outside the box after cutting in onto his right foot. That is a typical method of play from the left-winger and if he is able to do it more often he will likely find the back of the net with greater consistency.
It also allows him to link up more effectively with Will Grigg, and if Sunderland manage to get him scoring, it’ll be a huge lift for their chances of success this year.
In other Sunderland news, fans have been critical of Maguire after a string of uninspiring performances.