Sunderland’s 2014 League Cup XI: Where are they now?

Sunderland didn’t manage to get past the round of 16 this season as they were knocked out the League Cup by Oxford United. Together we look back at Sunderland’s squad that took on Manchester City to see where they are now.

Goalkeeper: Vito Mannone

The Italian Keeper was a Sunderland Player from 2013-2017 since then he has moved on to Championship side Reading, Mannone has made 47 appearances for Reading since that he’s moved to American club Minnesota United on loan making 34 appearances for them. At the moment Manonne is still in America.

Right Back: Phil Bardsley

Bardsley started his career at Manchester United way back in 1993 as an academy product, the Salford born Right-Back stayed at Manchester for 15 years but in that time he loan spells at Burnley, Sheffield United, Royal Antwerp, Aston Villa and Rangers.

He signed for the Black Cats in 2008 Lasting six years at the club, Bardsley was a key part of Sunderland’s defence as he made 147 appearances in the time he was in the North.

Phil moved to Stoke on a free transfer lasting three years at the club. nowadays he’s playing at Burnley where he’s played 35 times since signing in 2017, today Bardsley is still playing for Burnley.

Centre Back: Wes Brown

Wes Brown is another player who made it through the ranks at Manchester United, Brown started his career in 1992 and stayed at The Red Devils until 2011.

Brown then made the switch to Sunderland and stayed with the club until 2016 where his career took him to Blackburn Rovers where he only lasted five games.

Brown finished his career in the Indian Super League with Kerala Blasters where he linked up with previous boss Rene Meulensteen.

he has since retired.

Centre Back: John O’Shea

The former Irish International predominantly spent his time at Manchester United before his move to Sunderland in 2011. O’Shea spent seven years on Wearside making 226 appearances, scoring 4 goals.

O’Shea moved on from Sunderland to Reading in 2018 but only stayed at the Royals for nine games before retiring on his 38th birthday against Birmingham.

Left Back: Marcos Alonso

The Spaniard only spent 14 games on Wearside when he was on a season-long loan from Fiorentina. Alonso made his way through the ranks of Real Madrid from 1998-2010 following that he moved to Bolton Wanderers where he spent 35 games.

Following his time Bolton he moved to Italian side Fiorentina, Alonso was sent out on loan to Sunderland in 2014, notably starting in the Cup Final.

After his loan spell was up in the North East Alonso moved back to Fiorentina until 2016, Chelsea came in for Alonso and he’s been playing in London ever since. Since his move to London he’s made 3 appearances for the Spanish national team.

Midfielder: Jack Colback

The Newcastle Born Left-sided player was picked up by Sunderland’s Academy in 1999, The Newcastle Supporter stayed at SAFC for 15 years before making the shock move across the river to Newcastle.

Colback is still at Newcastle but has fell out of the First Team, from 2014 – 2018 he made 93 appearances since then he’s had two spells at Championship side Nottingham Forest.

Today Colback is still at Newcastle but doesn’t feature in the 23-man squad. he could potentially be on the move in January.

Midfielder: Liam Bridcutt

Liam Bridcutt started his career at Chelsea but never made an appearance for The Blues.

Bridcutt was sent on loan Yeovil, Watford and Stockport County before he was offloaded to Brighton in 2010, following a successful spell that lasted four years he moved to Sunderland.

Bridcutt only stayed at Sunderland for two years, making 30 appearances. after his time on Wearside he signed for Leeds after having a spell on loan there.

his career has now taken him to Bolton Wanderers on loan from Nottingham Forest. This season he’s made 7 appearances for The Wanderers.

Midfielder: Ki Sung-Yueng

The South Korean Midfielder played for Celtic from 2009-2012 scoring 9 goals in 66 appearances, Swansea picked up the Korean International.

Just a year after he joined the swans he was loaned out to Sunderland where he made 27 appearances and scored 3 goals.

Ki was picked up by Sunderland rivals Newcastle in 2018, after his contract ran out, he signed a two-year deal with the Magpies.

Today Ki is still at Newcastle but hasn’t played much this season, it seems that Bruce doesn’t have any need for him.

Forward: Jozy Altidore

The American international started out at New York Red Bulls scoring 15 goals in 37 games, following that he moved onto Villarreal in Spain.

Altidore’s time in Spain didn’t exactly go to plan as he was loaned out three times starting at Xerez then to Hull City and finally to Bursaspor.

Jozy moved to Holland to Join AZ where he averaged a goal every two games in his 67 games. This caught the eye of the Wearside’s but he couldn’t recreate that form.

In 42 games for Sunderland Altidore only manged 1 goal. Altidore was used in an exchange deal for Jermain Defoe from Toronto FC.

Jozy is still in the MLS today he’s netted 56 goals in 110 games for the Canadians.

Forward: Fabio Borini

Fabio Borini started his career at his local club Bologna in Italy. Chelsea were soon on the raider of the young Italian, he was on there books from 2007-2011 just making 4 first team appearances but signed on loan for Swansea in that time.

Parma picked up Borini but sent him on loan to Serie A side Roma. Brendan Rodgers brought Borini to Liverpool in 2012 only managing 2 goals in 25 appearances.

After his spell on Merseyside he moved to Sunderland staying at The Black Cats for two years. He played constantly for Sunderland bagging 14 goals in 82 games, he scored a consolation for Sunderland in the Cup Final.

Nowadays Borini is back in Italy playing at Milan, he originally went on loan from Sunderland, but that turned into a permanent deal in 2018.

Forward: Adam Johnson

Johnson started his career at Newcastle United then moved to Middlesbrough. Johnson didn’t make any appearances or Newcastle but made 96 for Boro.

In his time at The Smoggies he went on loan at Leeds and Watford. in 2010 Johnson was picked up by Manchester City he stayed in Manchester for two years.

Sunderland signed him for £10 million from City in 2012, Johnson went onto making 122 appearances for Sunderland scoring 19 goals.

Johnson’s Career was over when he was arrested under suspicion of sexual activity of with a minor. His contract was terminated in March 2016.

Johnson was found guilty of the charges and was handed a Six year prison sentence. Johnson was released from HMP Moorland near Doncaster on March 22nd 2019.

Johnson hasn’t played football since.