Howard the Duck
Striker
Things change. I have not seen anything of the sort since O'Neill took over. Our passing has been good and quick, we haven't been resorting to the long ball. When O'Neill took over he said he wanted to adopt a style of play similar to Barcelona, he realised that's the ultimate goal and we're never going to play in the same way as we wouldn't have the players. But it was a high benchmark and Davies would not fit into that at all.
I never mentioned long ball. If you can't see the job Bendtners been doing in terms of holding play up and bringing others in to play, how important it is to the way we play and how Wickham isn't quite up to the same task (or isn't that type of player) then you've been watching a different Sunderland under O'Neill to me.
It's a vital component of the quick counter attacking game we've adopted. When we concede a lot of possession it's vital the ball sticks when we clear it. It didn't happen against Swansea and we looked a poorer team for it. It would happen more with Davies than it will with Wickham at this moment in time.