{"id":23802,"date":"2026-02-26T23:26:56","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:26:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2026\/02\/26\/marco-gabbiadini-reveals-sunderlands-veteran-star-could-be-the-catalyst-black-cats-real-problem-was-mental-not-tactical\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T23:26:56","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T23:26:56","slug":"marco-gabbiadini-reveals-sunderlands-veteran-star-could-be-the-catalyst-black-cats-real-problem-was-mental-not-tactical","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/2026\/02\/26\/marco-gabbiadini-reveals-sunderlands-veteran-star-could-be-the-catalyst-black-cats-real-problem-was-mental-not-tactical\/","title":{"rendered":"Marco Gabbiadini Reveals Sunderland\u2019s Veteran Star Could Be The Catalyst: Black Cats\u2019 Real Problem Was Mental, Not Tactical?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini spoke to BBC Sport<\/a> recently. He gave a sharp, thoughtful take on why captain Granit Xhaka\u2019s return is such a big deal for the Black Cats. Currently, Sunderland<\/a> are navigating a rough patch of inconsistent form. Gabbiadini admitted the team aren\u2019t just a one-man show. Even so, he made it clear that the 33-year-old Swiss international has a level of presence that almost no one else in the squad can match.<\/p>\n

Gabbiadini Backs Xhaka Return To Steady Sunderland\u2019s Wobbling Premier League Campaign<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The ex-striker pointed out how important Xhaka is as an anchor in the middle of the pitch. Xhaka is the type of player who is happy to sit back, dictate the play, and keep everyone else calm. A young Sunderland side have clearly felt his absence while he was out with that ankle injury. Looking past Xhaka\u2019s own game, Gabbiadini also touched on the constant lineup changes R\u00e9gis Le Bris has dealt with lately.<\/p>\n

He suggested that never having a settled team has only made things harder. On top of that, he noted that new signings always need a bit of time to find their feet. For a squad full of players still learning the ropes in the Premier League, a dip in results was always likely. Still, his overall outlook was positive. Gabbiadini saw this slump as a temporary hurdle rather than a total breakdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re not a one-man team, but he is very important, of course, he is. He brings so much experience to a team that is still pretty green.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be careful not to get too despondent or carried away. To get the captain back in the middle of the park, somebody who\u2019s a little bit more anchored and happy to just sit and control the game will make a difference.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been quite a lot of change in the team. It hasn\u2019t been a particularly consistent team selection over the past few weeks \u2013 maybe that has been an issue as well. And new faces, as it always takes time when new faces come into the dressing room.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve lost some people and brought some new people in. They\u2019ve got to hit the ground running, and it\u2019s not easy to do that.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of the players have not had long Premier League careers or played that many games in the Premier League at all. Some of them haven\u2019t played many games, full stop. If there\u2019s a little bit of a lull, that\u2019s to be expected.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u2014 Marco Gabbiadini, as quoted by BBC Sport<\/p>\n

Does Xhaka\u2019s Return Prove S<\/strong>underland\u2019s Real Problem Was Mental, Not Tactical?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"Sunderland's
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND \u2013 FEBRUARY 22: Granit Xhaka of Sunderland reacts during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Fulham at Stadium of Light on February 22, 2026 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Stu Forster\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The timing of this matters a lot. As of February 26, 2026, Sunderland are in a fantastic spot for a club just promoted to the top flight for the first time since 2017. Xhaka was back in the mix for the weekend game against Fulham.<\/p>\n

What Gabbiadini is really getting at is that the team have a leadership gap, not just a tactical one. Sunderland\u2019s other midfield options, Noah Sadiki, Enzo Le F\u00e9e, and Habib Diarra, have plenty of energy and skill. But none of them have the scar tissue and grit that Xhaka brings. He has earned over 120 caps for Switzerland, and you can\u2019t buy that kind of know-how.<\/p>\n

Le Bris himself has called Xhaka a leader that the rest of the group naturally follow. You just can\u2019t expect a 22-year-old to provide that same sense of stability in the middle of a season. Gabbiadini also made a fair point about how much the summer overhaul affected the team. Sunderland brought in a lot of new faces, and that kind of chemistry takes months, not weeks, to build. In the end, what looks like a tactical breakdown on the pitch is often just a group of young players looking for a leader to steady the ship when things get chaotic. Now, they finally have that leader back.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Sunderland striker Marco Gabbiadini spoke to BBC Sport recently. He gave a sharp, thoughtful take on why captain Granit Xhaka\u2019s return is such a big deal for the Black Cats. Currently, Sunderland are navigating a rough patch of inconsistent form. Gabbiadini admitted the team aren\u2019t just a one-man show. Even so, he made it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13963,"featured_media":23803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13963"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wpinitiate.com\/echo-test\/demo76e71539\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}