Sam Allardyce reckons finishing comes naturally to a player and it’s not something which can be coached.

On plenty of occasions in the recent games, the Sunderland players have failed to take advantage of scoring opportunities because of poor finishing.

According to Allardyce, not much can be done regarding it.

Speaking after losing to Arsenal, Allardyce said, “People who claim that they teach their players how to finish, they tell lie because in my opinion, it’s totally natural and it’s an ability which a player possesses right from his starting days.”

“You can be a frequent scorer, but, it does not mean you would necessarily be a finisher. In the squad that I have got here at Sunderland, I believe it’s only Defoe who would come in the category of finishers. The rest of the players, they are pretty good, they can and do find the net on a consistent basis, but, I don’t see them as finishers.”

When asked whether it would have made a difference had Defoe played the game, the 61-year old said, “Yes, I would like to believe so. A couple of those would probably have been converted into goals. Who knows?”

“But, we’ve some other class players as well in our ranks. Fletcher has been in good form and so has been Duncan. With these two out there on pitch, we should have done better.”
“The only goal that came for us, it was a self goal by the opposition which means that all the opportunities we made for ourselves went begging and those weren’t tough ones. You would back yourself to capitalize in those situations most of the time. It is hugely frustrating to lose by so much in spite of having so many opportunities.”