Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray is demanding more from Manchester United loanee Amad Diallo.
The Ivorian winger joined Sunderland on loan in the summer but is yet to earn his first start under Mowbray.
Amad featured off the bench in Sunderland’s 0-0 draw against Preston last weekend, and he will be hoping to get into the starting XI when Blackpool travel to the Stadium of Light tonight.
Blackpool go into the game following three consecutive defeats, so it could be a good chance to give Amad some minutes from the start.
Mowbray suggests that Sunderland are impressed by what Amad has shown in training thus far, and they are confident that he has a bright future ahead of him. Those comments came with a message as his present gaffer called on him to be more ruthless in the final third.
“He’s just a young boy really, but he’s supremely talented,” said Mowbray, as per Manchester Evening News. “To see his touch, and see how fast and direct he is, it’s a lovely thing to watch on the training pitch. You see how talented he is, and you can see why he’s at Man United, but you can also understand why he’s out on loan, to develop the core materials you need to be a competitive footballer.
“He needs to find a better end product. He has all this soft, lovely feet and brilliant skills, but he needs to shoot when he gets in the box. When he sees the goal, he needs to shoot, and he needs to add goals and assists to his name.
“It’s not enough just to be a lovely footballer who can dribble and go past people, but never have an end product. That’s the message, yet it’s not a simple one. You have to keep repeating it to him all the time – we have to drill into him that we want him to shoot and get in the box.
“Can he score a scruffy goal, can he get a rebound off the goalie? We have to get him into those positions, but when it all clicks for him, he’s going to be some footballer because he’s got every attribute you want.”
Amad has a lot to prove…
After a failed loan spell at Rangers, Amad cannot afford to waste another year on the sidelines.
The former Atalanta winger needs to take Mowbray’s advice on board and get into the Sunderland team.
Otherwise it will look like a really poor investment from United. The clock is ticking.