Sunderland are reliant on Jermain Defoe yet again this season.
Writing in The Times, Tony Cascarino has warned Sunderland that Jermain Defoe cannot do it on his own again this season.
The striker was the Black Cats’ key man last season as his 15 league goals essentially kept them in the Premier League.
Defoe has started this season in similar fashion, bagging four goals in their first seven games.
As with last season, the side are relying on the veteran to score the vast majority of their goals.
It is risky for Sunderland to pin their hopes on him again, and Cascarino has warned that he cannot do it all by himself.
“Sunderland need to start finding goals from someone who isn’t Jermain Defoe,” he wrote in The Times.
“Moyes cannot expect Defoe to score every chance that he gets. He is one of the most clinical strikers in the league, behind only Sergio Aguero, but the former England man needs help. He cannot do it alone.”
The problem for Sunderland is that they do not have any other regular goalscorers in their squad to provide sufficient back up to Defoe.
Fabio Borini and Duncan Watmore only managed eight goals between them last season, while summer recruit Victor Anichebe has only scored an average of three a season in the last five years.
That means that Anichebe cannot be relied upon as backup should the goals dry up for Defoe at any point either.
It is a major issue, and it will be interesting to see how manager David Moyes tries to fix it, at least until January when he could move in the transfer window.
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