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2015-16 PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW: Sunderland

By Chris Jones

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"The life of a Sunderland fan can’t be easy."

For the past three seasons, they have been entrenched in a battle to stay in the Premier League, and since the 2010/11 season, they have not finished with the same manager that started it.

Last seasons savior was Dick Advocaat, who steered Sunderland away from relegation. It took a 0-0 draw against Arsenal in the 37th game of the season to secure another year of top-flight football.

Heading into the 2015-16 campaign, will it be another close shave with potential relegation, or will Sunderland take a step forward?

Now with a full season at Sunderland ahead of him, Advocaat is looking to help the Black Cats climb the table. He showed last season that he can lead a united team that plays with fight, but so did Gus Poyet in the 2013/14 campaign, and he did not last to see the latest edition of Sunderland’s great escape.

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    • One of the main problems that Sunderland faced during the last Premier League was goal scoring. The leading scorers were forwards Steven Fletcher and Connor Wickham, who only chipped in five goals each.

    Jermain Defoe, who joined Sunderland in January, succeeded in scoring four goals in 17 league appearances. However, when a player who joins the squad with only four months remaining in the season and is only one goal from being a leading scorer, you know you have a problem.

    Advocaat added Jeremain Lens to their attack, but shipped out Wickham, who after scoring 11 goals in 74 appearances for Sunderland, was sent out on loan twice and eventually permanently sent to Crystal Palace.

    Lens will be paired with Adam Johnson, Fletcher, and Defoe to hopefully add upon the abysmal scoring record.

    The big question will be whether any of those options can reach 15-20 goals on the season. Defoe showed great signs of positive play after his transfer, and Sunderland will hope that it can continue

    Most of the Black Cats’ spending this summer has been on the defensive side of the ball, with the purchases of Adam Matthews from Celtic, Younes Kaboul from Tottenham, and Sebastian Coates, who’s loan from Liverpool was made permanent this offseason.

    These additions will help ease the pressure on the likes of John O’Shea and Wes Brown.

    Another big problem for Sunderland last season was protecting leads. They were the worst in the Premier League at taking points from games where they scored the first goal. Advocaat will have to hope that his additions will help secure the back line and solve that problem.

    There are a lot of question marks heading into this season, and a lot of problems still unresolved from last season.

    Sunderland have been known for being in the midst of a relegation battle each season, and this season might be the same.

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