MusaSunderland legend Kevin Phillips has claimed that a prolific striker could be the “missing piece of the jigsaw” for the Black Cats following their impressive return to life in the Premier League.
Regis Le Bris’ side have amassed 30 points from their opening 21 matches since securing promotion over the summer, but have largely had to settle for spreading their goals out across the squad.
At the time of writing, Sunderland’s top scorer remains Wilson Isidor, with four strikes to his name – although the Frenchman hasn’t found the back of the net since late October. Just behind him, summer signing Brian Brobbey has scored three times, while Le Bris’ only other recognised senior centre-forward option, Eliezer Mayenda, has registered just the one goal, way back on the opening weekend.
What has Kevin Phillips said about Sunderland’s need to sign a striker?
And as a consequence, Phillips has suggested that the Black Cats may need to find themselves a more consistent threat at the point of attack if they are to kick on and challenge the upper echelons of the top flight.
Speaking to BestBettingSites.co.uk, he said: “My only slight concern would be, are they going to score enough goals? I feel they’ll be safe, 100% they’re safe, but can they score enough goals to really push maybe into that top six for European spots?
“I think potentially they need a striker. Their top goal-scorer, Isidor, has only scored four goals, and Brobbey has only scored three. If you really want to push for a European spot in the Premier League, you need a player who’s going to get you 15 goals at least in the Premier League. So I think the missing piece of the jigsaw is a striker. They’ve competed well, but if they were to go out and spend serious money on a top striker, then I feel Sunderland could really push for a European spot.”
Turning his attention to Sunderland’s campaign writ large, Phillips continued: “They’re having an incredible season. Everyone who’s watched them play this season has been very, very impressed with what they’ve seen. Me so more than anyone, because obviously I’ve followed them for many, many years, followed the journey that they’ve had over the last six, seven years, dropping to League One for four years, getting into the Championship and then getting promoted when they probably shouldn’t have.
“So then it’s a case of what they’re going to do. And I was very surprised in terms of the chairman spending as much money as he did… And it’s fine spending that type of money, but you have to make sure that you bring in the right types of players. I’ve been very impressed with the players that they signed over the summer. They brought pretty much a whole new squad to compete in the Premier League. And then it’s a case of, can you mould them and gel them quickly enough to get results?
“And what Regis Le Bris, the manager, has done so far with that group of players has been quite remarkable, really. The biggest key for me was probably the signing of [Granit] Xhaka and his experience in the middle of the park, organising, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch, around the training ground, setting standards. I’ve been very, very impressed, and they’ve played some good football. Defensively, they’re solid. I think they’ve got the third-best defensive record in the league, which is incredible for a team that just got promoted.”
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