We’ve seen this before.
It’s a familiar movie, with the same script, a different director and different subject matter, yet the same core theme — a Sunderland player becoming a lightning rod for the team’s
failure to perform on any given day.
For years, the starring role was played by Luke O’Nien, ludicriously branded a “liability” (a word I’d gladly see cast out of all Sunderland-related discourse — there are no liabilities in this team) and viewed in some circles as a weak link and someone who couldn’t trap a football, let alone play a key role in our eventual rise to the Premier League.
It was untrue then; it’s still untrue now, and although we might’ve hoped that singling out certain players for often disproportionate criticism is a habit we’d try to break, it’s nonetheless disheartening that as Sunderland’s form has hit choppier waters, a wholehearted, committed and high-quality footballer in Trai Hume has found himself under the microscope.
Let’s nail something down: pound for pound, Hume is one of the best, most effective and successful signings made by Sunderland during Kristjaan Speakman’s time at the club.
When he arrived from Linfield in 2022, he had the feel of a low-risk, “one for the future”-type signing but during four years in red and white, his ferocious will to win and refusal to take a backwards step have been a key component of Sunderland’s rise from League One to the Premier League.
He’s also far more technically accomplished than we often highlight and his low-key attitude is a perfect fit for the times: no nonsense and no razzle-dazzle — just a rugged approach to the game that Régis Le Bris and his teammates clearly appreciate.
Why, therefore, has Hume suddenly become such a polarising figure among pockets of the fanbase?
Yes, recent results have been average and our performance levels aren’t currently hitting the heights that they did earlier in the campaign, but as Le Bris is often at pains to point out, collectivism is the name of the game at the Stadium of Light and it was good to hear him offer some staunch backing for Hume earlier this week.
OK, the absence of Bertrand Traoré and the spectre of Lutsharel Geertruida (a superb and extremely versatile player in his own right) may be factors here, but the idea that the Northern Ireland international has suddenly become a weak link just doesn’t stack up.
Perhaps Le Bris is asking Hume — a hard-tackling right back by trade — to push his versatility a shade too far at times, but that’s not on Hume himself and after a challenging afternoon against West Ham, has he not handled himself well as captain during the subsequent clashes with Burnley, Arsenal and Liverpool on Wednesday night?
Let’s be frank: Granit Xhaka’s absence has forced the head coach to adapt and the results have been mixed, but hanging a player out to dry because he’s perhaps not living up to your expectations in a role he’s still learning is hardly sound reasoning.
Collectively, Sunderland weren’t anywhere near their best against Liverpool.
On reflection, it seemed as though we showed the visitors too much respect, and there was a timidity to our play that I found slightly puzzling at times, with safe passes being chosen too often for my liking and Alisson not really being troubled for the majority of the game.
This isn’t entirely attributable to Hume, however, and if we’re going to analyse where things aren’t quite clicking for Sunderland, it’s grossly unfair to turn on a player who’s demonstrated throughout the season that he does have Premier League quality and for whom the step up from the Championship has not proven impossible to make.
He’s doing what’s being asked of him; he’s doing it to the best of his ability and if Le Bris opts to bring Geertruida into the fold for Sunday’s FA Cup tie at Oxford or next Sunday’s league meeting with Fulham, I’m sure Hume, as a double promotion winner and one of our longest-serving players, will respond as professionally as possible.
On a final note, it should be highlighted that legitimate and constructive criticism of players’ performances is fine.
That’s part of the deal, but I really do wish we’d take a moment before tossing words such as ‘liability” around so flippantly and laying into players with unnecessary venom. It adds nothing the discussion and potentially does more harm than good — not least given the scrutiny these lads are already under as they compete in such a tough and demanding league.
