Andrea Dossena has made a striking claim about Sunderland’s dressing room during his short spell on Wearside
Former Sunderland defender Andrea Dossena has claimed some players arrived at training “still smelling of alcohol” during his time at the club.
The Italian joined Sunderland in 2013 after leaving Napoli, where he had played in the Champions League and won the Coppa Italia. However, his spell at the Stadium of Light proved short-lived and he went on to make just seven Premier League appearances for the Black Cats, along with three more in the FA Cup.
Dossena’s time on Wearside came during a chaotic period for Sunderland. He arrived under Paolo Di Canio, only for the Italian to leave shortly afterwards following a difficult start to the Premier League season. Gus Poyet was then appointed and eventually guided Sunderland to the “Great Escape”, as well as a League Cup final appearance and a double over Newcastle United, but Dossena struggled for regular football and even featured for the club’s under-21 side.
Speaking to Calciomercato, Dossena has now reflected on that spell and made a strong claim about the atmosphere around the squad. “My goodness,” he said, when asked about Sunderland. “Some players would arrive at training still smelling of alcohol from the night before. I didn’t have a great relationship with coach [Gus] Poyet.”
Dossena also recalled the managerial upheaval he experienced soon after arriving at the club. The former Liverpool defender said he had been sent to Rome for treatment on an injury and returned to find Di Canio had already left his role. “When I arrived, Di Canio was there,” Dossena said. “They sent me to Rome to get treatment for an injury, and when I got back to England I couldn’t find him. He’d argued during a meeting, and Poyet had arrived in his place. I remember he never let us watch a match again to analyse it,” he added.
The comments offer a blunt insight into Dossena’s view of a turbulent Sunderland spell, although the club did recover from a poor start that season to stay in the Premier League. Poyet’s side also reached the 2014 League Cup final, where Sunderland were beaten by Manchester City at Wembley.
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