IT is perhaps a reflection of how poor Sunderland’s drab 0-0 draw with Queens Park Rangers that the best footballing moment of the weekend, for a Black Cats supporter, was seeing former loanee Amad Diallo slot home the winning goal in Manchester United’s thrilling 4-3 FA Cup quarter-final victory over Liverpool on Sunday.
The sublimely gifted Ivorian has had to wait until March to score his first goal of the season – but what a time to do it, in front of 76,000 fans at Old Trafford. And there would be few Sunderland fans that didn’t enjoy that moment.
He even managed to emulate former Sunderland favourite Ross Wallace by getting himself sent off for his celebrations!
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I didn’t particularly like the description of Amad as a ‘cheat code’ when he was at Sunderland. We didn’t get him by unfair means – while it felt like a coup at the time considering he’d moved to Old Trafford for £30million, he wasn’t the first player with such potential to drop down into the division.
The likes of Jordan Pickford, Harvey Barnes, Harry Kane, Jesse Lingard and Mason Mount have all successfully made temporary moves to the Championship – and it did them all the world of good.
Amad’s move to Sunderland benefited both sides. We had an incredibly talented player at our disposal whose confidence had taken a battering due to a failed loan spell at Rangers.
He needed to find a club that fell in love with him – and he got that at Sunderland. He left with his confidence restored, and while his season has been disrupted by injury, on Sunday the United fans got a glimpse of the kind of quality Sunderland fans had been treated to last season.
Of course, the Red Devils would have been pleased with how the loan went, and other Premier League clubs, with their stockpiles of young, talented players, would know that Sunderland was a good place to send their best players.
So you have to ask the question – why hasn’t that happened this season?
Instead of Amad, or a player of Ellis Simms’ calibre, we have made two loan signings this season. Chelsea’s Mason Burstow, and League One Barnsley’s Callum Styles.
While it is too early to judge Styles’ impact having joined in January, it’s clear to see that as highly rated Burstow is at Stamford Bridge, he’s certainly some distance away from being good enough for the Premier League. He’s not good enough for the Championship right now.
If you are a club harbouring any real ambition of getting out of the Championship, any players brought in on loan should improve the team if not instantly, but certainly within the short-term.
Sunderland have done this to great effect previously, with the likes of Stewart Downing, Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson all bringing instant quality to the side.
It is a pointless endeavour if that player does not improve the team he has joined. Even though it may be satisfying to see him improve by the end of that campaign, it does not help the club if he wasn’t good enough for the team in the first place.
The Championship may be English football’s second tier, but it is a rival for many European countries’ top levels of football, in terms of attendances, stature, history and the standard of football.
It is a man’s league. It is not primarily a development league. The best teams are filled with internationals and players with plenty of top-flight experience. And the best teams bring their young players through alongside the experienced heads. It’s all about balance.
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You have to wonder what Burstow thinks of his time here. He’s not playing much football. He’d probably be playing more even if he was in Chelsea’s reserves. He’s not improving Sunderland but, crucially for Chelsea, he’s not improving himself.
His stint on Wearside has echoes of the kind of loan deals Sunderland made in the Championship relegation season of 2017-18 – Ove Ejaria, Tyias Browning, Jake Clarke-Salter, Brendan Galloway. All young, inexperienced players that were completely ill-equipped for what turned out to be a relegation battle.
If we want to get out of the league, any loan deals going forward need to improve the team. More Amads, and fewer Mason Burstows. Because, otherwise, what’s the point?
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