Sunderland have been criticised for letting one ‘very valuable’ player leave in 2023.
Sunderland‘s summer transfer business last year proved to be season-defining, as they offloaded seven players and brought in eleven new faces.
The Black Cats allowed the more experienced figures such as Lynden Gooch and Danny Batth to the leave the club, while they invested heavily in youth.
The risk of trusting young players really didn’t pay off for them this season and they found themselves in 16th place on the final day.
While Batth’s move to Norwich City proved to be rather disastrous, Gooch made 31 appearances for Stoke.
The American’s exit from Wearside certainly didn’t bring his support of the club to an end though and he regularly shares his love for Sunderland on social media.
Lynden Gooch ‘shouldn’t have been allowed to leave’
After joking with former Sunderland goalkeeper coach David Preece on X, Sunderland Echo journalist James Copley quoted his post.
He wrote: “Come back home. Shouldn’t have been allowed to leave.”
Lynden Gooch would made made 30 plus appearances for Sunderland
Gooch had no chance of displacing Trai Hume at right-back this season, but his versatility could have meant he would have still racked up a lot of appearances.
The Black Cats’ injury crisis at left-back could well have been solved by the 28-year-old, who would have arguably been a better option than both Leo Hjelde and Callum Styles.
He also could have pushed further forward on the right and taken the place of Patrick Roberts and Abdoullah Ba, who both struggled.
While he isn’t the most talented or skilful,‘very valuable’ Gooch was always a handful and Sunderland have missed his energy and determination.
The club didn’t realise how important he was until he left, and while many fans accepted that it was time for him to leave, he clearly contributed a lot more to the team than first thought- both on and off the pitch.