When it was announced that Sunderland had signed Jack Clarke on a deal rumoured to rise to three million pounds, I couldn’t get my head round the excitement from other fans. Almost a year down the line, I would personally say he’s been our best player this season and who we’re at most risk of losing. I probably owe the twenty-two-year-old an apology.
Not that I’d completely written the Yorkshireman off after his loan spell with us, but I failed to see what impact he could have in the second tier given what I’d seen of him in the third and would have been the last person to advise making his move permanent.
How wrong I was. Clarke has been essential to our success this season from start to finish and probably ends the campaign with the highest transfer value out of the players who are rightfully ours and whose stock hasn’t been affected by injury anyway.
All talented footballers, especially wingers, tend to be quite frustrating at times. Clarke’s tendency to neglect the idea of using his left foot and going down the flank made him quite predictable at times and meant we didn’t get a chance to witness much of his end product. With eight goals and eleven assists to his name and the season isn’t even finished, it’s fair to say we’ve all had the opportunity to witness what he can truly produce.
With the absence of a dominant centre-forward for large periods of the season, our attacking options have really had to step up. Whilst the skill and link-up play we’ve witnessed Patrick Roberts produce has been exquisite, Clarke’s more direct approach has really helped us nail some points on the board. Not to say that Roberts has not stepped up too, he’s been a joy to watch and his overall play has been so consistent, almost making him and Clarke each other’s yin and yang.
What’s really separated Clarke from the rest of the lads this season for me has been how little time on the ball or space he needs to make something happen. So regularly he cuts inside to create half a yard of space and is able to get a wicked shot off.
With the aforementioned lack of a natural goal scorer we’ve been subject to so much hesitancy within our attacking play, as if we want to walk the ball into the net. Where Clarke has really improved, for me, and stood out has been his more ruthless approach of taking advantage of a split-second he has to deliver a ball into a dangerous area or have a go himself and it’s that which has really made the difference for us at key moments and kept us in the play-off hunt.
His strike at home to Bristol City in February is one of the best examples of Clarke taking responsibility and shows what talented players can do when full of confidence. Other notable performances that come to mind include running rings down the hoops away to QPR, pulling Rotherham’s defence to shreds at home in August and heading home to open our account at home to Coventry in July.
What makes his season even more impressive has been the amount of change he’s had to adapt to. Speaking on the Unfiltered podcast, Clarke mentioned the struggle in having to adapt to a number of different left-backs supporting him and having to think about their preferences and style in his game. Not only that, but we’ve seen our number twenty feature predominantly as a left-winger, but also as a wing-back and centre forward at times. Not to mention he’s started in all but one of our league games this season. Maintaining his consistency over such a long period of time is really to be praised.
It’s been a great season, regardless of what happens away to Preston on the final day; finishing in the top six would make what’s already an incredible achievement an even better one, and getting to this point has been due to a great team effort. Some of the football we’ve played as a side this season has been some of the most entertaining and I think we’ve exceeded everyone’s expectations. Regardless of what happens, we’re in a much better position now than we have been for years and that is largely due to our policy of recruiting young and hungry players with bags of potential, such as Clarke.
That deal we made with Spurs in the summer looks far from a rip-off now, and every part the bargain. Whatever division we’re in next season, I just hope he is one of many whose here to stay!
