Dean McDonald says…
We all know about Sadiki’s quality, and I think he’ll kick on even further this year. Of all our players, I think he has the highest ceiling and will become by far our record sale.
With Diarra, we saw signs early last season of what he can bring, but he had a very interrupted season.
I think with a good pre-season and good luck with injuries, he can really push on and be a crucial player for us. He has all the attributes to be a top Premier League midfielder, given the time and the right environment
around him, and he’ll get there.
The required rotation the Europa League brings will be good for them both as well as they’ll both start plenty of games as well as probably getting a rest when they need it to keep them fit.
Matthew Donne says…
I think the World Cup has been a huge platform for all of our younger players, in truth.
Sadiki and Diarra (the former in particular) both had exceptional games as their countries bowed out, but I think credit is also due to Nilson Angulo and Chemsdine Talbi, who are also showcasing their abilities on the world stage.
This should give the rest of the fans some encouragement as I know sections of the fanbase were unconvinced by the likes of Diarra, Talbi and Angulo last term.
All in all, it’s a really exciting time to be a Sunderland fan as this team is only getting started. To quote our possibly departing captain, “This is just the beginning”.
Owen Sara says…
Diarra has put in the level of performance we saw prior to his injury and I don’t think it was a coincidence that Senegal went on to lose after he was taken off.
He had mixed performances when he came back from AFCON and I do think the £30 million price tag has created elevated expectations. He’s shown that he has an eye for goal and has a natural knack for popping up at the right time.
Sadiki also ran the show for Congo. He was my pick for young player of the season last year and £20 million looks like an absolute steal. It was easy to see why there was already talk of Manchester United lurking after his first six months with us.
It should certainly give the players confidence going into next season. With more games to play, there’ll be greater opportunities for them to show what they can do and I fully expect them to kick on full of confidence.
Paul Lee says…
Here are two young players – Sadiki at twenty one and Diarra at twenty two — that’ve quickly transitioned to Premier League football after being recruited by a new team in every sense — location, squad composition and expectation.
They played important roles in taking our newly promoted club to seventh and Europe, but can they push on and take a bigger role? They clearly have potential for pushing on from last season and building on a good start and strong foundation. Both have strong character and technical ability and at their tender age, still plenty of scope for improvement.
Sadiki arguably had the better season of the two.
It was a big step up, I’d say and he acclimatized quickly, which was to his credit. His technical intelligence is high, he defends well and looks composed. His areas for improvement would be more assists and goals, and maybe to take a few more risks going forwards.
I think Diarra has more scope for improvement and impact.
Here’s a lad who took the captain’s armband aged at Strasbourg aged twenty. With Sunderland, he worked through a three-part first season: a bright start, a period out with a groin injury and then a stop-start reintroduction with return from injury mingled with AFCON, and there’s an opportunity for him to really push on, hopefully during an injury-free second season.
It’s sometimes easy to forget that they’re this young and still early in their development curves. Confidence is a big consideration and I would hope that doing themselves justice on the World Cup stage against elite opposition, has been a further boost.
It’s now for the Sunderland coaching team to show its mettle and to continue with both of these lads’ career development programmes on an upward trajectory. I’d expect to see more consistency of performance from both and especially Diarra, and there’s no distraction from AFCON this year.
So yes, they can both push on and take on bigger roles.
They have good platforms to build on, leadership characteristics in their profiles and their confidence should be high. And most importantly, I hope they’ve learned (and continue to learn) from Granit Xhaka’s example on and off the pitch last season, by setting and meeting higher standards in training, playing and mentality.
One or both of them may well need to step up.
Ricky Clucas says…
My message to Sadiki, Diarra and Chemsdine Talbi is very simple.
“The pressure’s on, you feel it
But you got it all, believe it
When you fall get up, oh, oh
And if you fall get up, eh, eh”.
“Listen to your God, this is our motto
Your time to shine, don’t wait in line, y vamos por todo
People are raising their expectations
Go on and feed them, this is your moment, no hesitation”.
“Today’s your day, I feel it
You paved the way, believe it
If you get down get up, oh, oh
When you get down get up, eh, eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa
Tsamina mina, eh, eh
Waka waka, eh, eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa, anawa-a-a
Tsamina mina, eh, eh
Waka waka, eh, eh
Tsamina mina zangalewa
This time for Africa”.
Will Patterson says…
Barring Harry Kane, I thought Sadiki was the best player on the pitch in the England/DR Congo game. When you have a player who can cover the space of two or three defensively, it means you enable other members of your team to do what they do best.
While they say “all publicity is good publicity”, there’s part of me that’s glad neither him or Brian Brobbey will be going further in the World Cup.
He’s going to be massive for us next season and if Granit Xhaka does go, any incoming midfielder will have their integration made far easier with Sadiki by their side. I think we’re going to see a lot of talk about him and his qualities next year.
Diarra is a strange one.
Clearly talented, and a player whose price tag showed we rate him very highly. There seemed to be a negative narrative building towards the end of last season but with a strong start, hopefully he can look to shake that off.
I’m not entirely sure what his best role is in the squad. Ideally I’d love Enzo Le Fée to play centrally, and I’m not sure he has enough defensively to partner Sadiki in a double pivot. I’m hoping the Europa League will mean Régis Le Bris rotates enough to figure out his best role — and another year of dealing with the physicality of the league will certainly help him too.
Sadiki’s quality is already known to us and I think he’ll show the rest of the league next year. For me, Diarra has the most to prove and hopefully will push on to justify his price tag.
