As I type this, it's been a quite extraordinary transfer window thus far for us, 9 players in who could justify a first team place. In no particular order, Sebastian Larsson, Connor Wickham, John O'Shea, Ji Dong-Won, Keiren Westwood, Ahmed Elmohamady, Wes Brown, Craig Gardner and David Vaughan...Let me just catch my breath. I mean I'd be quite happy to have that as a starting 9+2.
So far things are looking rather upbeat on Wearside, I attended the match against Borussia Mönchengladbach and well it wasn't the greatest spectacle in the world ,partly because I was enjoying the local beer while watching a match (A highly enjoyable thing to do) the support was immense the few hundred that made the trip making amazing noise, I'll put this down to being allowed to stand up and enjoy yourself at the match. Not to mention the Mönchengladbach supporters were friendly and I was lucky enough to hear them singing Sunderland songs on the train home.
All that being said, I was a bit lost as to who was playing where and well....Who was on the pitch at any one time! but all the same was nice to see, Man of the Match for me was Richardson, most impressive new signing was Ji Dong-Won.
But it is a pre-season match and players were just getting their legs back, with games since including against Hartlepool and Darlington and from all accounts a lot of positive things have come from them. Steve Bruce splitting the first team squad over the two games could have been a master stroke, it will help develop the youngsters and also allow game time for all players instead of the odd bit here and there.
This season will be a telling one for the club, there is a wave of optimism that I have never seen before, the fans are expecting much especially from the first home game of the season...
So where should we aim with the 10th place finish last season you would have to say 10th or higher again would be the obvious aim, top 6 seemingly impossible due to incredible spending by those at the top to stay top. We've gone from Yo-yo club to established, clubs that once were established are now looking over their shoulders.
We should aim for 7th place, while personally I would love to be in Europe next year I don't want that trip to cost us in the long run. I could however see a cup run this season, a very well balanced squad so even the typical "weakened" side would still be quite strong. I'd love to see Sunderland at Wembley again...Been a while.
So the season starts away to Liverpool...with their spending which is a bit more lavish than ours but to be fair it included our local lad....They've helped us a lot when you think about it, we have replaced one player with 9. So firstly, Thank you Liverpool.
Does Bruce know his formation? 442? 451? 433? or even his starting 11 already? or is he still undecided?
In goals.... Gordon still injured? the Mignolet or Westwood...Tough choice but lets face it a nice choice to have!
Which central defensive partnership will he go for? we saw in the friendly's mostly Turner and Bramble or Ferdinand and Brown. so most likely these will be rotated through the season? Bardsley or Elmo or O'Shea (when fit) at right back? please not Elmo, personally he is a right winger. He has given away to many silly fouls and well...Penalties to be considered for right back. And it looks like another season without a "real" left back, but at the Mönchengladbach match I saw Richardson put in a great performance at left back. We could do a lot worse.
To the midfield, well your guess is as good as mine there are plenty of options available , Cattermole, Colback, Gardner, Vaughan seem the central options, Larsson, elmo, Sess, or even Vaughan out wide? and again we start a season without a left winger....There is still time
in the window but I feel centrally we are stronger, with Meyler still on his way back we will have back up.
Sess will be one to watch this season, he came good after a few months at the club and he has been setting pre-season a light so far, in fact I stuck a bet on for him to be out club's top scorer at 20/1 I think I got a good deal! Will Bruce play him off the striker or more on the wing?
Up front...Well we have a lot don't we, Gyan is the main man, so are we playing 2 or one up front? Wickham and Dong have been impressive thus far in pre-season so there is competition but grumbles of not enough cover upfront are coming.
Whatever the lineup I don't think there is much reason to complain with the squad that is assembled for the first match. I wont tempt fate with a score prediction. All I will say is that it may be a hard game indeed.
Oh and the next match..THE match...Personally it's too early for a Derby will feel strange. I am personally shocked at the mess the Newcastle camp is in....Even for Newcastle. They've tried to sign so many players and failed, I have laughed a few times.
But I dont want this to turn into mag bashing. All I can say is a win that day could make the squad complete, It's going to be an experience for the new signings. Again not tempting fate with a prediction but lets just say I'll be gutted if we don't win.
So I think I should end this blog here, Optimistic into the new season...a very strange feeling, 7th is amazing, 10th and a semi is as good? Player I'm most looking forward to seeing develop is Ji Dong-Won. he has a lot of buzz about him, from what I saw in Germany he had pace, strength and never gave up on the ball. This could be our season, It has the making's of one to remember for a long time. The future is bright indeed for SAFC.
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