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Emanuele Giaccherini had a difficult first season at Sunderland, he signed expecting to be a regular starter and despite high expectations soon found himself struggling for starts. Despite those struggles he did show glimpses of what he is capable of, particularly towards the end of the season.
Speaking to tuttojuve.com, the Italian international says he was actually quite satisfied with his first season at the Stadium of Light;
[It was] A positive season, we reached our goal, that of safety and we reached the Capital One final and FA Cup quarter-finals. From my point of view I scored 5 goals and got 5 assists, playing 31 games (24 in the Premier League and 7 in the Cup) then to be my first year I'm satisfied even though I could definitely play more.
There were only a few technical reasons which I have facilitated, however in the last 5 games, I made a great contribution by scoring and making my mark.
Despite not playing as often as he'd like, Giaccherini has no intention of leaving Sunderland;
Honestly, my future is still too early to think about it because I am on vacation, after two years travelling around the world I'm spending a few days at rest (laughs).
For the future, who knows, certainly my intention is to stay at Sunderland. In my club I'm fine and I'll talk with the coach when the time comes to hear his thoughts and understand my role, I have 3 year contract and I want to stay in the Premier League with this shirt.
The 29-year-old then went on to explain the strength in depth of the Premier League;
The English league is very difficult but less tactical, has huge top level teams such as Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Tottenham and Everton.
It's a league full of great champions who will play at the World Cup, some from small teams.
In my team, Sunderland, Altidore and Ki will participate in the World Cup, even though they have struggled to stay up, this shows the very high technical level of the Premier League.
Finally, the Italian explained how he felt being left out of Italy's World Cup squad, despite starring for them in last season's Confederation's Cup;
I have not been called, but I know that the coach had said that none of those excluded would have been contacted.
For me it definitely was a disappointment because all the players in the national team would have dreamed of participating in the World Cup. But I accept with great serenity the decision of coach Prandelli, he is free to make the choices that he considers most appropriate.
I want to emphasize that I will always be grateful to him because he is the coach who gave me the chance to play in the national team, and I agreed with the choice serenity. I think we also want to respect for the guys who are present at this time at Italy's disposal.
Hopefully next season, after a tough season's baptism in the Premier League, Giaccherini will show the kind of form that made him such an asset coming off the bench towards the end of the season. With Fabio Borini returning to Liverpool, the Italian will have a chance of cementing his place in Gus Poyet's side next season.
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