Sunderland shortcoming v QPR should be a big cause for concern over the international break: View | OneFootball

Sunderland’s miserable 2024 continued on Saturday as Mike Dodds’ side drew 0-0 at home to struggling Queens Park Rangers.

Whilst the Black Cats ended a run of six successive defeats, that was about the only positive the hosts could take, with the side set for a mid-table finish this season.

Sunderland’s lack of attacking quality

Going into the January window, all Sunderland fans had the same message to the board - sign a proven striker.

Despite links to Kieffer Moore, the Wearside outfit would ultimately fail to bring in the experienced number nine they craved, and it turned out to be a costly mistake.

In the first half of the season, there was a reliance on Jack Clarke to score goals, and even though he has missed the past five games through injury, he remains comfortably out in front as the top scorer at the club with 15.

Next on the list is Jobe Bellingham, and he has managed just six goals, which demonstrates just how big a problem scoring goals has been.

Worryingly for Sunderland, there is an expectation that Clarke will move on in the summer, and the past month has given them a glimpse of what life will be without the influential attacker, and they won't like it.

The team has managed just three goals in that period, and failed to find the net in three of those games.

The QPR clash was the only game Sunderland haven’t lost since Clarke’s enforced recent absence, but the stats made for grim reading.

They failed to register a shot on target against the R’s, and ended the game with an xG of 0.21. Simply put, that’s unacceptable, particularly at home when they were once again backed by a big crowd.

Crucially, it also shows that there’s no quick fix to Sunderland’s issue.

For many clubs who struggle to score, they can turn to a catalogue of missed chances, or several key players missing out through injury or losing form.

With Sunderland, it’s only really Clarke, and they certainly aren’t creating.

The XI against the Londoners contained Bellingham, Adil Aouchiche, Romaine Mundle, Abdoullah Ba and Luis Semedo, but they all struggled. Mason Burstow would come off the bench and once again didn’t make the impact he wanted.

With all of those players aside from Ba joining in recent windows, it is a very bad look for the recruitment team, and it brings obvious questions about whether they are capable of getting things right moving forward.

Huge summer awaits for Sunderland

Given how the past few months have played out, the pressure is really starting to build on the Sunderland hierarchy, as the fans rightly demand improvements.

The QPR game was a reminder of just how big a task they have in front of them, and whilst Clarke may bring in some serious money to reinvest into the squad, there’s a lot of work that needs doing.

In the meantime, Dodds needs to get much more out of the current crop, as ending the season on a high would at least give Sunderland fans some optimism going into the summer.