Soccer Football - Championship - Sunderland v Blackpool - Stadium of Light, Sunderland, Britain - October 4, 2022 Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray during the match Action Images/Lee Smith EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
Journalist Ethan Todd believes Sunderland youngster Pierre Ekwah should be starting for the Black Cats.
The Lowdown: Sunderland brought crashing down to earth
It wasn’t too long ago that Sunderland were riding the crest of a wave and sitting inside the play-off spots. However, fast-forward a few games and they have yielded zero wins from their last four matches and now sit six points off the top six.
The latest in their shocking run of results was the hammering at home to Stoke City and at the hands of former manager Alex Neil, with the result highlighting flaws in their squad.
Sunderland boast the youngest average age of any squad in the Championship and are without experienced stars such as Ross Stewart and club captain Corry Evans, but Todd wants to see more talented youngsters deployed to combat their absences.
The Latest: Ekwah to be thrown in at the deep end
Ekwah was recruited from Premier League side West Ham in the summer but has been afforded just 43 minutes of first-team action, and Todd argued on The Roar podcast that this should be changing.
He said: “It’s getting to the point where we’ve been putting square pegs in round holes and they’re no longer fitting, so I think personally, I would have had [Luke] O’Nien in central midfield.
“I know he’s not the greatest technically – certainly not as technical as [Dan] Neil – but just having that presence and a bit of [physicality] about him. I think it might be time to give Ekwah a go as well.”
The Verdict: Mowbray has a chance to experiment
While handing a first league start of the season to an inexperienced midfielder such as Ekwah away to Norwich City wouldn’t exactly be a baptism of fire with the Carrow Road atmosphere nothing to be intimidated by, the Canaries are a solid outfit and will prove to be tough opponents this weekend.
However, with Sunderland now looking like outsiders to make the play-offs and having a comfortable 17-point cushion to the bottom three of the Championship, they look set for a mid-table finish.
Therefore, these final games of the season will give Tony Mowbray an opportunity to look at his squad and try to figure out some new tactics heading into the forthcoming campaign, including finding out the best position for ‘brilliant‘ ace Ekwah, who we feel they should be building their midfield around for the future.
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