Former Sunderland man Marco Gabbiadini has slammed sporting director Kristjaan Speakman over this one persistent issue.
Sunderland lost 5-1 at home to Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday.
It’s the club’s biggest Easter Monday defeat in 65 years and a fifth defeat for Mike Dodds in seven games now.
Sunderland now sit in 13th place of the Championship table as they watch their season peter out into a very disappointing one.
Several criticisms of owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus have emerged in recent weeks; sacking Tony Mowbray and then hiring Michael Beale, who held the shortest tenure of any Sunderland manager.
But sporting director Kristjaan Speakman has arguably been criticised more so.
Kristjaan Speakman criticised at Sunderland
Speakman has been with Sunderland for just over three years now.
He’s had some good signings in the past and some of his more recent signings will surely prove fruitful too.
But on the whole, this season especially, a lot of his signings have been very average.
There’s a definite focus on youth but this season has seen maybe an over-emphasis on signing young players.
The likes of Luis Hemir, Nazariy Rusyn, Timothee Pembele and more were all brought in last summer, but they haven’t improved the team.
Not only is this current Sunderland first-team lacking experience, and a striker which is a separate Speakman debacle, but according to Gabbiadini, it’s lacking pace.
Marco Gabbiadini criticises lack of pace after Blackburn Rovers
Jack Clarke made his return against Blackburn Rovers.
Dodds’ decision to bring on Clarke raised a few eyebrows, but it was overall a positive to see Clarke back in the side.
And his return also added some pace to the side; something that Sunderland legend and BBC pundit Gabbiadini feels is missing.
He said on Total Sport after the Blackburn defeat:
“We’re weak, and we’re lacking in pace which has been a problem for this club for the last three of four years, and we just don’t seem to address it.”
Kristjaan Speakman has to address Sunderland issues this summer
Experience, overall quality, and pace seem like three things Speakman needs to bring to the team in the summer.
It’s no good signing players like Rusyn who may have some degree of first-team experience; they need to be players with Championship experience, and pedigree.
And once Clarke leaves, Sunderland will have almost no threat in attack and no pace.
There’s an argument to say that Sunderland do have their share of pace in the side, albeit not huge amounts, in players like Abdoullah Ba and Romaine Mundle.
But after a long season with a lot of injuries too, maybe these players are tiring, hence the evident lack of pace.
Or maybe it’s the style of play under Dodds that makes for a lack of pace, as Sunderland certainly had that under Mowbray before.
There’s a huge amount for Speakman and co to do this summer, but the main priority will be hiring a new manager.