Sunderland Should Sign Nikica Jelavic To Help Defend From The Front
You get the feeling that Dick Advocaat might be wishing he’d just stuck with his original plan and retired after guiding Sunderland to safety at the end of last season. (Those pesky ‘Black Cat’ fans and their flowers!)
After the opening two Barclays Premier League fixtures it all looks too similar for Sunderland as their team once again look void of any fight or spirit.
Defensively they still look a mess.
Advocaat obviously saw what we all did last term and that’s that the defence wasn’t strong enough. So he went out and bought two new centre-backs.
The problem is that he’s brought in two iffy defenders.
Younes Kaboul offers a mixed bag. At times he can be sublime but often he offers up too many mistakes and doesn’t make his strength count as much as it should. The Frenchman clearly lacks confidence and isn’t a natural leader.
Sebastian Coates had vast potential when Liverpool signed him in August 2011 for £7m. But he’s never realised that potential in England. At times he looks sloppy and weak. Probably needs a central partner that can help him focus on his defensive duties and Kaboul doesn’t seem to be offering that at the moment.
A lack of pressing and urgency all over the park doesn’t help the new central defenders either.
That’s why I think Sunderland should look at signing Hull City’s Nikica Jelavic.
Ok I know he’s a striker but he is also a warrior who can defend from the front!
At the moment they have Steven Fletcher and Jermain Defoe and neither is offering enough up top.
Scottish striker Fletcher has been ruined by injuries and can’t seem to hit top form again. Whereas Defoe is a predator scorer and pressing and hassling doesn’t come naturally to the forward.
Jelavic would offer goals but perhaps more importantly he can hold up the ball, defend at set-pieces, press all day long and bully opposing defenders.
Really he would be there to offer more, both offensively as well as defensively. He should offer a good foil for Defoe.
Plus he could cost just £3m! The twenty-nine year old also has experience in the Premier League. I am beginning to sound a bot like his agent now.
But beware ‘Black Cats’ as West Ham Utd are the latest side to be linked with a move for the Croat.
Dick Advocaat and his pool of players meet today to discuss their abysmal start to this campaign. Trust me Dick will be pulling out his transplanted hair out at his teams defending and lack of pressing.
The ‘Little General’ needs to change things and needs to do it quickly.
An experienced defender would be great but getting in a fighter like Nikica Jelavic could at least shore things up from the forward areas!
Posted on August 16th, 2015 by scott
Filed under: Article
He is one of the slowest strikers in the premier league/championship over the past 2 years. Definitely not. We need to play a style to suite Defoe and fletcher. Keep to ball pass and move on the ground rather than resort to chipping the ball 50 yards to a lone striker, which doesn’t work. Poor tactics and lack of confidence with most wanting to simply get rid of the ball.
Play from the back also. The keeper lumps the ball up the pitch too often. Not much craft in the team.
First things first you need to keep the ball. The further up the pitch the better.
I’d have jela with defoe not instead of & wouldn’t punt it up field continously either.