Football Season Guide

Sunderland had another season of relegation struggle and a close escape right at the end, ensuring another season in the top-flight in the coming year. They needed Dick Advocaat to come in at the end of March and get the house in order after the shambles of the Gus Poyet reign. The experienced Dutchman did not do much, it has to be said, other than just sorting out the defensive shape of the side and squeezing out a couple of tight wins that proved enough to finish above the bottom three. It is clear that improvement in a dysfunctional and creaking squad is needed and there is still not enough evidence to suggest that the Wearsiders can make tangible progress in the coming season. Advocaat was initially set on retiring after that season but was swayed to take up the challenge of leading the team and trying to establish them as a more stable force in the top-flight. He focus his recruitment on players he knows and Jermaine Lens is indeed a pretty commendable signing. The wide forward has the pace, eye goal and delivery to succeed in the Premier League and is definitely an upgrade on Connor Wickham, who moved to Crystal Palace. Younes Kaboul endured a woeful last season at Tottenham but there is still a good defender there and he may well work in what is a more conservative Sunderland side compared to Tottenham. More signings are on the way as Leroy Fer and Yann M’Vila are likely to join before the start of the season. It is clear that the midfield options are shallow at the moment and improvement is indeed needed there. The attacking alternatives are not especially encouraging too. But Advocaat knows how to set up a team properly and one still would expect Sunderland to have enough to just about beat the drop.