Beale could copy Ancelotti by handing new role to Sunderland “monster”

Sunderland fans have been treated to an early Christmas present as the board announced on Monday afternoon that Michael Beale would be the new head coach in the dugout.

Caretaker manager Mike Dodds steadied the ship after Tony Mowbray’s dismissal, picking up consecutive wins against West Bromwich Albion and Leeds United before stepping down off the back of a 1-0 defeat away at Bristol City.

With games coming thick and fast, Beale won’t have time to get acclimatised to the club but his first point of action is to get the promotion hopefuls firing up top once more.

Sunderland’s attacking stats this season

In the previous campaign under manager Tony Mowbray, the Black Cats were the fourth-highest goalscorers in the Championship and eventually finished in the final playoff spot, coincidentally qualifying by having a superior goal difference to Blackburn Rovers.

In all competitions, three Sunderland players finished with ten or more goals in all competitions: Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo, Ross Stewart and Jack Clarke. However, this time around, the Tyne and Wear club are ranked 12th for goals in England’s second tier.

The team’s performances in front of goal have significantly dwindled. Clarke has found the net ten times already and is just one goal off beating last season’s tally, but is being heavily relied upon by the team, having bagged 31% of Sunderland’s goals throughout the campaign.

Meanwhile, Sunderland currently have five centre-forwards within their ranks, including Nazariy Rusyn, Mason Burstow, Hemir Semedo, Eliezer Mayenda, and Jewison Bennette. Only Rusyn is older than 20, but none have scored a single goal in any game this campaign.

The side’s season could be significantly hampered if Clarke picked up an injury or was even sold, having been linked with a £15m move away from the club in January. Beale needs to find a way to fix the team’s goalscoring woes.

Jobe Bellingham’s stats this season

One way Beale could solve Sunderland’s issues up top is by deploying star midfielder Jobe Bellingham up top. This isn’t an unfamiliar role for the youngster, having been utilised in this position five times throughout his career, although two of these came in Birmingham City’s U18s squad.

Nevertheless, Bellingham is Sunderland’s joint-second-highest goalscorer this season, having found the net four times from the midfield with just 22 shots and a few of those have been poacher’s goals inside the penalty area. His performances this season have even seen him receive praise from his ex-teammate Troy Deeney, who called him an “ absolute monster”.

Jobe has a keen eye for goal and is arguably wasted in a deeper position, similar to his brother Jude Bellingham, who moved to Real Madrid during the summer transfer window for a whopping £88.5m.

Jude had been a decent goalscorer throughout his infant career, primarily playing in a midfield two or three. However, legendary coach Carlo Ancelotti decided to play the Englishman as a number ten who attacks the box with crashing runs from deep, partnered alongside split strikers who create space for these movements.

The senior Bellingham has become one of the most prolific goalscorers in world football and is currently leading the charts in La Liga as a result.

While it’s important not to shoehorn Jobe into comparisons with his sibling, there are still a lot of similarities between the duo’s styles of play and considering the £6.5k-per-week Sunderland gem has had experience playing up top, Beale could alleviate the team’s goalscoring woes by giving Jobe a run of games up top to prove his prolificacy as a striker.

The tactical move – which has worked wonders for Jude and Ancelotti in Madrid – could even save the Black Cats a few million ahead of the January transfer window.