On the most recent episode of the Wise Men Say podcast, Rory Fallow has been discussing all things Sunderland and spent some time talking about Lynden Gooch.
The 25-year-old winger has struggled to make a huge impact for the Black Cats this season, scoring just four League One goals for the North-East outfit.
However, the USA international provided his 10th league assist against Plymouth Argyle last time out to help Sunderland secure their place in the playoffs.
Gooch’s impressive display on Saturday caught the eye of Fallow, who was quick to praise the attacking talent.
He said: (5:00) “Obviously, Ross Stewart’s first goal was assisted by Lynden Gooch, who I think, for me, would get the Man of the Match award.
“He’s even over the course of the, not maybe that whole run of failing to win over that seven games but certainly over the last like three, maybe four games, has been probably the only player who he can say is in quite some decent form and he was excellent today, that was a brilliant assist for Stewart’s goal and that little nutmeg he did on the halfway, that was gorgeous wasn’t it.
“It’s a player playing with confidence, and he’s, you know, he’s been sort of in fits and starts at times Gooch. Obviously, you know, he’s had players like McGeady ahead of him at times, Jordan Jones, even Jack Diamond’s been getting in the team ahead of him at various points in the season.
“And he’s had bad runs of form, and we know that Gooch will do that, but when he plays like this, that’s when he’s one of the best players in the division as well. And going into, we kept saying on the pod the other week, going into the playoffs, you want your confident, attacking, dangerous players in good form, and he really exhibited that today.”
TIF Thoughts on Sunderland’s promotion chances…
It’s been a tough three-year spell in the third tier of English football for Sunderland, and a recent seven-game winless run ended their hopes of automatic promotion back to the Championship this time around.
If Lee Johnson’s men want to escape League One this season, then they may need to call upon the likes of Gooch over the next few games, and his return to form could be perfectly timed.
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