Sunderland Remain A Work In Progress

By Luke Edwards on Nov 6, 09 02:07 PM

If the Premier League campaign is a marathon and not a sprint Sunderland are about to hit the metaphorical wall when they take on Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal this month. The question is can they break through it and continue to keep pace with the front runners?

It has been an encouraging start for Steve Bruce. In fact, no, it's been more than that. It has been a very good start to the season for Sunderland's ambitious new manager and fans should have been given plenty of cause for optimism since the start of August.

However, a small squad is always a vulnerable one and Bruce's plans are being undermined by the gamble he took not to add/keep more bodies this season. We shall see that at White Hart Lane.

With Lorik Cana and Kenwyne Jones suspended and Lee Cattermole still injured, Sunderland have lost three of their five best players.

As we have seen with Liverpool this year without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres, that is tricky to deal with no matter how good the rest of the players around them are.

They will also have to cope with the absence of two other experienced campaigners in Bolo Zenden and John Mensah and are taking on a team which, despite its own recent slip in form, has an outside chance of breaking the Big Four's monopoly of the Champions League places.

Sunderland's squad has more quality players than in recent years, but it doesn't have anything like enough of them. Bruce was prudent in the summer. He did not - unlike some other managers I could mention - sign players just for the sake of it to provide cover.

That, though, underlines the fact this is a long term project. Bruce is not trying to achieve success overnight and he should be applauded for that. However, that is consequently Sunderland's biggest weakness at this stage of the project.

I have talked about European qualification on this blog before, but while Sunderland's first choice XI has a chance, I don't believe the squad is good enough.

This is a massive test of their resources against Spurs, a tough away game for a team which has only taken four points outside of the Stadium of Light this season, even if one of those came against Manchester United at Old Trafford.

When you consider that is followed by a visit from in-form Arsenal immediately after next weekend's international break, Sunderland could quickly be slipping back into the obscurity of mid-table.

Then again, plenty of people said that when they faced Manchester United and Liverpool last month and they drew one and won the other. They did so, however, with a fully fit squad!

It was interesting to hear Bruce talk about the January transfer window this week and he will look to strengthen, no doubt about that.

However, he also knows this is not the time to get good value for money as average players go for high fees and good ones charge extortionate ones. Sunderland have money to spend, but it is not stupid money. They aren't Manchester City!

Bruce has a strong interest in Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson, but so does half the Premier League and Boro will fight tooth and nail to keep hold of him, at least until the summer.

Instead, Sunderland will try to sign defenders, full backs and a centre back, but we might not be able to see the second phase of Bruce's rebuilding work until the summer. In the meantime, the fewer injuries and suspensions the better to try not to shove anyone out the way Kenwyne!