Direct replacement or tactical tweak? Five options for Sunderland in Jack Clarke absence

Abdoullah Ba

Ah the great enigma. Abdoullah Ba can be brilliant. He can also be awful. We’re not talking game-by-game here either. He doesn’t have good games and bad games, he has good moments and bad moments.

In essence, every minute is a fresh roll of the dice with Abdoullah Ba.

His best position for Sunderland, by far, has been on the right wing, and he could step into that role again to allow Mundle to switch to the left.

You could just play Ba on the left too, of course. He has looked quite good there before in flashes.

Adil Aouchiche 

Is it just me or is Adil Aouchiche becoming a bit of a forgotten man at Sunderland? 

Ever since his cameo off the bench at Ipswich where he missed a glorious chance and gave away a costly free kick, it's like he has fallen off the face of the earth. 

That seemed very harsh, though, and maybe it was just a Michael Beale thing, but the Frenchman could be a very good option to fill in for Clarke. 

Granted, he's not going to glide past defenders like Clarke does, but his spatial and tactical awareness is exceptional and he played most of his youth football from the left. 

Definitely one to consider, although you also feel like if he does play on the left, there needs to be a plan for getting the left-back past him on the overlap. 

Nazariy Rusyn

While we know Rusyn best as a striker, much of the fine form he exhibited that got him a move to Sunderland was as a left-winger.

Former club FC Zorya Luhansk used him in a Jack Clarke-style role – kind of a wide striker, tasked with coming inside and getting shots away – more often that they used him in a central role last season and he was more productive from that position too.

It would certainly be interesting to see him out wide for Sunderland.

There certainly shouldn’t be any worries over his defensive discipline either. He is an incredibly hard worker and Clarke is given certain freedoms on that left hand side that other wingers don’t get anyway.

Two up front

Playing TWO strikers… at the same time… anyone remember that? Apparently, you’re still allowed to.

To be fair to Sunderland, with Jack Clarke excellent essentially as a wide striker, there hasn’t been a huge amount of opportunity to switch to a conventional front two. But now there is.

You may be have to bench the wingers initially as Ba, certainly, would not have the discipline for a 4-4-2, but how about a 3-5-2?

Callum Styles could slot in at left wing-back, possibly Pembele on the right if Hume was needed centrally to cover for Dan Ballard's suspension. Then you could pick whichever two you wanted out of Rusyn, Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir.

Certainly an interesting prospect. 

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