Sunderland sit just three points off third place in the Championship, after a good 3-1 win against Norwich City at the weekend, a win that ended a run of three straight defeats.
Any boss always wants more from their team, but manager Tony Mowbray has started to question if some of his players can cut life in the Championship. A surprising public move, but one that he may hope sparks some life into certain players.
The veteran manager was asked in particular about Mason Burstow, the 20-year-old striker has yet to bag a goal this season in his eight appearances, since the start of his season-long loan from Chelsea, despite spending the majority of his career so far at Charlton Athletic.
Pressure Building
When it was put to him that the goal drought could be dragging the player down, he told the Chronicle Live, he said. “He’s not suggesting that by his personality around the building and on the training ground. But I’m sure he is [feeling the pressure], I’m sure every striker who goes a few games without a goal feels that way.
“Is he feeling it? He should be feeling it. He’s only a young kid of course, but we’ll know the right time to take him out of the firing line and give somebody else an opportunity.”
With the Black Cats’ decent start to the season, Mowbray will want all his players performing to high standards. Burstow was left out of the game against Norwich at the weekend, with Ukrainian Nazariy Rusyn taking his place in the winning effort.
It would be easy to point the finger at the Chelsea man, such was the fervour around his signing. It is a fact though that Rusyn, and Luis Semendo have also yet to get on the scoresheet. The three players are all competing for the regular first-team place.
A first start and a solid display 🇺🇦
⚡️ Keep at it, Nazariy! #SAFC pic.twitter.com/k7Y1uRRIJK
— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) October 29, 2023
Because of this Mowbray is now questioning if the forwards are ready for this level of football. “The other strikers are at different levels of readiness. Stick the next one in, see how he does, how many games are we giving him? Stick the next one in and let’s see how he goes.
“We have to assess, moving forward, whether we think we have players who are good enough to score goals in the Championship in our team. They are going to be given opportunities, and when the opportunity comes, let’s see if they score.”
Writer’s View
When you have a set of players all trying to impress their manager and win over the fans, the pressure can be incredible. Coming from a Premier League team just adds to that, and Mason Burstow will be feeling incredible heat to perform. This public questioning of him could make or break the player, and so Mowbray will have chosen his words carefully.
He works with the player day in, and day out. So he will know what makes him tick. This could be the wake-up call he needs. For now, though he may have to wait his turn, as Rusyn was part of a winning team, and did enough to keep his place.
