The media this week have linked Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson with a move away from the club and more specifically with a move to Liverpool. Patterson is the only player in the Championship to have played every single minute of every single game so far this season and has come in for his fair share of criticism in recent weeks. Most of which is entirely unwarranted and quite frankly agenda based. Taking the Bristol City game for example, criticism was made of Patterson who’s point blank save happened to fall at the feet of a Bristol attacker. Many were quick to suggest it was poor goalkeeping from Patto which just isn’t the case.
OUTSTANDING
Patto has been outstanding since making his debut back in the League One days hence the interest from top clubs across the country. Arsenal, Liverpool and Celtic have all been rumoured to have an interest. Whilst Patto will be unlikely to sign and start for any of those sides barring possibly the latter, the interest just demonstrates the impressive performances he has showcased over the last two seasons. You simply don’t attract that level of interest without producing the goods consistently.
FLAWS
One stat that is a very good indicator as to how good a goalkeeper is, is known as post shot xG minus goals allowed. Which simply put, represents the number of goals a goalkeeper is expected to concede minus the number of goals they have actually conceded. Sunderland have the 3rd best record in the division when it comes to this stat. Courtesy of Anthony Patterson. As a young goalkeeper, he has flaws. However, as a young goalkeeper, he’s a prized asset for Sunderland and one that is undervalued by many. Sunderland’s huge drop-off appears to have turned many current players into the main scapegoats of the team and criticised for ‘not being good enough’ which I can’t help but feel comes as a result of a heat in the moment situation. The situation being a poor end to the season amidst loss of trust between fans and owners.
COULD PATTO LEAVE?
Yes. I think there’s a very good chance we will see bids come in for a number of first team players in the summer and Patterson will be one of them. He’s a young, English goalkeeper that as mentioned above has had an excellent season. Added to that the ability to fill homegrown quota for English sides in Europe. It isn’t a surprise to see him linked. Would it be detrimental to Sunderland if we lost him? It’s hard to tell. Goalkeepers have always had a strange value in football but if the rumoured fee for Patterson is to be believed, Sunderland could pocket a healthy £15m from his sale to be reinvested across a number of different areas of the team. Actively trying to sell him would be a mistake, but I’d not be too concerned if we lost him. The recent emergence of Matty Young who has been hailed as a future England number one by Darlington fans bodes well for the future and he could be involved in the first team sooner rather than later. Alongside Adam Richardson who has had his season hampered with injuries after featuring in pre-season. All going well it’s likely he’ll be involved once again this upcoming pre-season. With links to Wigan’s Sam Tickle in the past month, Sunderland may already be planning ahead with Patterson’s potential departure in mind.
