Kristjaan Speakman names the one word that needs to be banned at Sunderland
Kristjaan Speakman says the word “model” needs banning at Sunderland as he sought to explain the club’s long-term strategy.
Sunderland’s approach has changed drastically in recent years from signing the likes of Darron Gibson and Marc Wilson to a more sophisticated and perhaps worthwhile approach that has seen the club recruit some highly rated youngsters from across the globe.
Speakman has come in for his fair share of criticism, especially off the back of last year’s demise, mainly due to the club being accused of neglecting valuable experience in order to make room for more players with a higher ceiling.
In an interview with The Telegraph (15 October), however, the Sunderland sporting director explained the club’s approach.
He said: “I think we need to ban the word model, maybe that was my fault, I don’t know, we were just trying to describe our strategy.
“The last three years we have been the most youth-orientated team in the Championship, we are the 20th most youth-orientated team out of all 59 European leagues.
“When you talk about experience, how many taps do you need to change to be an experienced plumber? Jobe [Bellingham] is 19 years old but he is approaching 100 first-team games. Dan Neil has surpassed that already.”
Experience doesn’t always triumph over talent
It goes without saying, but a player is old enough if they are good enough and that was demonstrated in Sunderland’s return to the Championship when Tony Mowbray guided the Black Cats to a top-six finish, against all odds.
Ultimately injuries prevented Sunderland from making any progress further than that but it was a remarkably youthful side that achieved the feat.
Similarly this season, Sunderland have the youngest side in the division, according to TransferMarkt, with an average age of just 23 among the players to have featured in the first team.
That has Sunderland sitting top of the Championship after nine games and unbeaten at the Stadium of Light.
As mentioned by Speakman, the likes of Bellingham, Neil and even Anthony Patterson are very young players who have over 300 combined Sunderland first-team appearances. Many of which are at the Championship level.
Sunderland have recruited some worthwhile experience in recent months but with the additions of Alan Browne and Simon Moore and with links to Jordan Henderson, the level of experience across the squad will only continue to grow.
In other Sunderland news, Natasha Fenton slammed her Sunderland Women’s performance after their 2-1 defeat against local rivals Newcastle United
For more Sunderland news, follow us on Facebook or join our brand new WhatsApp Channel for instant updates to be sent straight to your phone.