It will be 4-4-2 on Sunday - at least according to the shields gazette Bruce told the Gazette: âWeâve had to look afresh at things in the wake of Asamoah leaving for the season. âMy plan was to bed the young forwards Connor and Dong-won in slowly, build up their experience and confidence, and then look to get the best out of them further down the line â we have to remember that they are only 18 and 20. âWhen you look at big talents in the Premier League, who came into it young with big reputations, it has taken Theo Walcott to this stage to finally establish himself as a first-team regular, while Gareth Bale also took a long time to settle in before we started seeing the best of him. âItâs the same with Connor and Ji â theyâre still learning â and I hadnât wanted them too exposed too soon because inevitably if they donât play well thereâs a danger theyâll get stick from the fans, and thatâs going to affect them and set them back. âHaving said that, Connor has improved in every single appearance heâs made this season, and Ji has got his first goal for the club. âUnfortunately in some ways, we are where we are in terms of perhaps having to draft them in earlier than we would have hoped, but we need everyone to get behind them, and hopefully theyâll rise to the occasion.â Using twin towers of Wickham and Bendtner in partnership could help Sunderland take the game to Stoke City, rather than look to withstand the inevitable bombardment. Bruce will not make up his mind until after training sessions today and tomorrow, but he admits that he is edging towards the idea of going very positive in attack while also looking to play good football to keep Stoke pegged back. âEveryone talks about the obvious challenges Stoke present you with, and thereâs no denying that unless we stand up to the physical challenge they offer, weâre going to be in trouble. âBut we have to look at ourselves and what we can do. âLast season at the Britannia, Stoke struggled to get anywhere near us for about an hour because of our passing and movement, and I thought we played them off the park that day, which made it doubly disappointing to concede two late goals from set-pieces. âFor me, Sunday is quite simple really in terms of what we have to do â stand up to the physical challenge, impose ourselves on the game and let our football do the talking. âWe have played some decent stuff this season without really getting the rewards, but weâve got a very good squad of players, and I know itâs only a matter of time before they start really demonstrating that"
It could be 4-4-2 but in that game last year we played 3-5-1-1 with Bardo & Onouha as wing backs & Gyan and Ricco upfront so maybe Bruce would stick with those tactics, however if it is 4-4-2 then I would think the team would be, ---------------------Mignolet---------------------- O'shea---------Brown-------Bramble-----Richardson Larsson------Cattermole----Colback-----Sessegnon --------------Dong Won-------------------------- -------------------------Bendtner---------------- Personally I would play Vaughan as he can keep the ball but wether Bruce feels the same I dont know.
Not sure I like this comment - I certainly wouldn't get on the players back (unlike the lad that sits behind me) but I think we have all said on here that we don't mind giving the young players time to find their feet. Hope that bruce is very wrong with this statement and we realise that the players are still new to the Premier League Also hope either Ji or Wickham start on Sunday!! ---------------------Mignolet---------------------- O'shea---------Brown-------Bramble-----Richardson Larsson------Cattermole----Gardner-----Sessegnon --------------Dong Won-------------------------- (Or Wickham - wouldn't be unhappy with either) -------------------------Bendtner---------------- I'd replace Colback as I thought he was out of his depth against Chelsea
