Sunderland’s £12m pair become club’s best PL signing since Defoe and Borini
Sunderland moved one point closer to survival in the Premier League on Friday night as they drew 1-1 with Bournemouth, taking the lead through Eliezer Mayenda’s first-half goal.
The Black Cats are in 12th place in the league and 12 points behind the relegation zone with ten games left to play, so they can probably say that they are sure to play high quality football again next season.
Therefore, Regis Le Bris is on course to keep Sunderland in the Premier League for the first time since they avoided relegation in the 2015/16 campaign, before losing the following season.
The French manager deserves credit for coaching the team so far, after winning promotion to the Championship last term, but the recruitment team also deserves a round of applause for their work.
Sunderland have been busy in the summer transfer window after being promoted, and the work they put in during those months has paid off.
How Sunderland’s rotation strategy is keeping them
Instead of doing what other teams do when they get promoted and sign many top players in the Championship in the hope that they will go up again, the Black Cats have struggled due to experience and fitness.
Sunderland have signed six players for more than Didier Ndong’s club record summer signing of £13.6m, including Habib Diarra for a club record £27m.
Sunderland’s most expensive signing ever
Who added the record for the Black Cats?
The experience of Nordi Mukiele, who played for PSG and Bayer Leverkusen, and Granit Xhaka, who played for Leverkusen and Arsenal, were brought in to provide a strong backbone.
Players like Omar Aldere, Brian Brobbey, Noah Sadiki, and Diarra didn’t come with the same experience as Mukiele and Xhaka, but they provided a quality body all over the field.
Sunderland rank fourth in the Premier League in aerial duels won per game (18.6) and are tenth in set goals allowed (nine), showing that their recruitment has worked to make them a viable team to play against.
That physical strength is what seems to keep them in the league as they are ranked in third place with the fewest goals (29) and they are in sixth place with 34 goals.
The last time Sunderland avoided relegation in the Premier League, they did so with goals from Jermain Defoe and Fabio Borini.
Sunderland’s best Premier League pairing since Defoe and Borini
In the 2015/16 season, the Black Cats finished in 17th place scoring 48 goals in 38 games, scoring 62 goals. Defoe (15) and Borini (five) are the team’s top scorers with 21 goals, scoring almost half of the team’s goals.
Now, Sunderland are set to avoid being dismissed by defending strongly, rather than free-scoring with two exciting strikers, and the defensive pairing of Dan Ballard and Alderrete has played a key role in that.
Ballard, signed from Arsenal for £2m in 2022, is one of the few players to have made the step from the Championship to become a regular in the Premier League, while Alderrete was signed from Getafe for £10m to go straight back.
Of the 20 games we played, six out of eight were tied, and there are only two of the eight games that did not hold both.
The central defensive pairing played a key role in Sunderland having the best defensive record in the Premier League, from open play and set pieces, due to their physicality and defensive awareness.
|
25/26 PL |
Ballard |
Alderrete |
|---|---|---|
|
Appearance |
24 |
24 |
|
Specifics per game |
6.8 |
6.6 |
|
Fighting for each game |
1.2 |
1.0 |
|
Duels won per match |
6.3 |
4.3 |
|
Ground duel success rate |
66% |
52% |
|
Aerial duel success rate |
59% |
57% |
Ballard and Alderrete both won most of their games defensively on the ground and in the air, meaning they rarely let opposing players win physical battles.
They are also ranked sixth (Ballard) and seventh (Alderrete) for frees per game of all players in the Premier League this season, behind the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Maxence Lacroix.
Sunderland’s defense is set to keep the team in the league and Le Bris has the duo’s impressive performances to thank for that, which is why they look to be the best pairing in the Premier League since Defoe and Borini.
Ballard and Alderrete may not be as exciting as the Black Cats’ strikers of old, as they are defenders rather than goalscorers, but they were as important to the team’s survival as they were a decade ago.
Sunderland struck gold in the £880k signing who is now worth more than Xhaka
Regis Le Bris has struck gold with this Sunderland star, who is now surprisingly worth more than Granit Xhaka and Enzo Le Fee.
