Keep Calm And Let’s See What Happens…
Just three weeks ago I wrote about the fact we should embrace whatever change might come this summer – which you can read here – and this was mainly centered around the likes of Roefs, Sadiki and Brobbey, but I’m not sure I would have included Granit Xhaka on a list of those that might potentially be leaving.
Now I say potentially, because every “in the know” reporter, and whether that is mainstream or on the socials doesn’t seem to really know what’s going on. It’s fair to say there’s plenty of guess
work going on at the moment so this might all blow over in a couple of days on from now and there might be nothing to see.
But the rumours began over the weekend that Xavi Alonso wants our Swiss captain to help him keep the young’uns in check at Chelsea, and it was a conversation I actually had ahead of the last game of the season.
In our match preview pod ahead of Chelsea’s visit to Wearside, there was the odd rumour that Xhaka would be a target for Alonso, so I asked the Chelsea fan we talked to that day and it was brushed off a bit as clickbait and a transfer that didn’t really fit the profile of what the Blues have recruited over the last couple of years or so.
But here we are in late-June and if reports are true, it might be closer than we’d like it.
I’m not a social media person, but if the reactions in group chats were anything to go by, I imagine the online reaction was pretty extreme. But from what I’ve seen an read it seems to be aimed at his words after the final whistle against Chelsea rather than a wide lens view of what might be happening.
Xhaka talked about his feeling for the club, he talked about how happy he is, how it reminds him of where he grew up, how he gets the club – and he has said it all with emotion throughout the year – but what is happening doesn’t mean he was talking b*llocks in my view. He probably said it as he saw it in the moment. But circumstances change.
Considering what he achieved at Bayer Leverkusen, I’m sure he had deep affection for the German club, but he still left when he felt he needed a new challenge.
Last summer he probably had offers that could have blown Sunderland out of the water in terms of money and/or club stature, but he chose the challenge here. He then embraced it and helped us exceed all expectations.
I could see why others wouldn’t think this, but if he feels like another new challenge next season then fair play to him – he doesn’t owe us a thing. As long as we get a fair deal based on how important he’s been to us this season, balanced by the fact he’s turning 34 in September, then it’s how business is done.
A regular conversation last season was that we’d have to replace Xhaka at some point, and I’m not saying that’s easy, but does it make a huge difference if we have to do that now rather than twelve months down the line?.
We also aren’t privy to conversations that have gone on behind the scenes at Sunderland. Could he have been told that we might bring someone in the blood in as a replacement and he’d play fewer games?. Is there a chance he was told he’d play fewer Premier League games with a Europa League schedule factored in?.
We all know his importance but it’s feasible that we were talking to him about winding down, while giving us a chance to find our path forward.
I’ve followed the Lads for best part of four decades, and we’ve seen it all before, and we’ll see it again. Big players come and go. If you expected Xhaka to stay with the club for the next ten years, then my feeling is it was probably a bit naive. He’s spent a year in the north-east of England, loved it, enjoyed the experience and now he’s likely being offered a whole lot more money for living in the capital again.
It’s at a stage in his career where he probably didn’t expect to be offered a move to a club with the profile and cash of Chelsea. As I said, circumstances change.
With the recruitment team we currently have I’m more excited about how we replace him – if he leaves. I reckon they plan for every player leaving as every player has their price and if any player had their heads turned then it’s pretty much inevitable.
I can see why people might be hurt if he leaves after what he said – but if he leaves he’s been great and I’ll a big thank you and look forward to what’s next. We’ll be reet.
We’re All Shook Up…
Well, who saw this coming?! And I’ve already been through the Xhaka situation, and I also meant before the teasers came from the marketing department at Sunderland AFC ahead of the annoucement.
It wasn’t that long ago we were using strips that were supplied by Nike, but weren’t really supplied by Nike. We were wearing deckchair-style stripes while being relegated from the Championship. We were hastily sticking labels over sponsors on strips just before launch – only for them to peel off.
Now, we have an official collaboration with the Elvis Presley estate. That’s some leap.
If ever we needed a sign of how far we’ve come, this might be it. Or it could be the Europa League badges on the sleeves of the new kits. Either way, the positives just keep on coming at Sunderland AFC.
Even if you’re not a fan of the colour or look of the shirt itself, its whole conception is part of a wider plan. As Gav has talked about on the pod this week, this is maximising every possible commercial advantage we can. We haven’t got Deadpool at the head of the board, but we have got a special identity, and using that to combine with an international icon is pretty clever.
We can imagine a handful of “soccer” fans in the US deciding they might follow a Premier League team or buy a strip, and it gives us an edge. Sometimes we think about the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and other sides in that bracket and realise that their profile helps keep them at a certain level.
A lot of that comes from the success they’ve had, but their image and profile also have a lot to do with how they’ve managed to stay ahead of the rest – well, most of the time.
As much as we consider Sunderland to be a local club, we’re clearly looking at every way we can boost our profile, and it’s likely this might be a sign of things to come.
Pizza Cup Return…
Talking about signs of how far the club has come, we saw the draw for the EFL Trophy take place last week, and after knocking out the mags’ U21 side en route to winning the competition back in the day, we now have our own young’uns in the competition.
I remember thinking it devalued the cup having academy sides in there at the time, and I still probably think that. But now we’re on this side of the table, it’s useful for us. Hopefully, we’ll be able to watch the games because it would be good to see whether there are any players coming through who might be knocking on the door – especially with all the discussion around the homegrown quota in European competition.
Another aspect of this is the draw itself, with our group opponents turning out to be Accrington Stanley, Salford City and Sheffield Wednesday. Firstly, it means we come up against David Bruce’s new side, but when we think about the Owls, it was only four years ago that we squeaked past them in the League One play-off semi-finals. On top of that, they were the first opponents in a home game for Régis Le Bris as Sunderland manager.
Things can change pretty quickly.
World Cup Hotting Up…
Is this turning into the Sunderland World Cup? We have more players on show than Real Madrid and, at the time of writing, we’ve had more players score than PSG.
It’s great looking at the fixtures and seeing who’s involved from a Sunderland point of view, and they’re making a pretty big splash.
Wilson Isidor scored what might be on the shortlist for goal of the tournament, Nilson Angulo scored a screamer against Germany, Granit Xhaka is doing Granit Xhaka things as Switzerland progress nicely through the tournament, but Brian Brobbey is moving on to a different level.
The football the Dutch have played over the last couple of games has been brilliant, and Brobbey is one of the main reasons why. Towards the end of last season, we were seemingly looking for new ways to attack, and watching some of his goals, you can see how we can play off him in different ways to what we did during the season just gone.
There’s always a fear that these players might be tired or pick up injuries, but watching Brobbey potentially gives us an insight into the bits and pieces we might see next time out.
