Sadly, without Phillips picking up the bits and pieces he provides, Quinn's threat becomes less potent; a Cassidy without
his Sundance Kid.
Sturridge, taken to Leicester by Taylor for roughly the equivalent of Roy Keane's pay packet for a couple of months, also showed that having been around a while has its compensations.
'His movement off the ball was excellent,' said Taylor. 'What we
needed when I came here was experience to harness the keen younger members of the squad. He talks to the other strikers and bosses them around a bit.'
The great value of years in attack is the awareness of space and the ability to know where to run and when to make those runs.
Sturridge, at the age of 27, still has a nifty turn of speed, while players like Sheringham and Quinn, apart from their ability in the air, possess cunning.
Neither is particularly quick yet by using their heads and knowing what angles to use, they can be as effective as the quickest runner.
This may be food for thought for Eriksson this week, as Sheringham has surely provided exactly that kind of impetus to the Manchester United attack, heightening the effectiveness of his various partners.
In Leicester's case the beneficiary has been Ade Akinbiyi, who at £5million cost a whopping 14 times more than Sturridge, yet who continues to look half the player.
The two strikers scored a goal apiece to plunge Sunderland deeper into a worrying run of form, even though they remain handily placed in fourth position despite the defeat.
Peter Reid talked openly of his side's lack of belief and conviction in the final third of the pitch but his greater concern for the future must be a lack of discipline, with John Oster becoming the sixth Sunderland player sent off this season.
Reid's club had amassed 60 bookings before this match and added a further three to that tally along with the sending-off.
'It does make it hard for ourselves,' conceded Reid. 'It puts a strain on your resources when you have that number of players missing and we do not have that big a squad.
'We do need to tighten up on our discipline.' Sadly for Reid, his veteran play-ers Hutchison and Quinn are among the worst offenders, one lesson that time has not taught them. Quinn collected another yellow card in this game, along with a neck injury that puts him out of international duty with the Republic of Ireland this week.
