100% agree mate. All about opinions but I see some wanting Neil out of our midfield, whereas I see Evans as the weak link. I dont think it is a case of needing someone different to Neil to help Evans, it is needing someone better than Evans to enable Neil to dictate games. Like you say the lad oozes class. He always receives on the half turn, he is always a head up player, his pass and move is superb. At times in the first half he carried the ball past Coventry midfielders with ease. There was one pass yesterday which was immense, into Embo I think, on the edge of their box, took out their entire midfield and a sharper Stewart would have been 1 on 1. Nobody else has that vision from deep. He faded second half, but when your entire team is camping on the edge of the box you might as well take him off to be honest as there is rarely any chance to play forward. I would have left Embo on and subbed Neil at that point.
I like Neill however I do think that type of "creative" player is always the type who splits opinion and is easier to blame if the midfield is getting overrun. I thought yesterday in the second half that we were not holding the ball up front as well as the first half so it was coming back too quickly and this was allowing Coventry to swarm all over at times. It also meant that LG/DC going forward from full back was restricted
In hindsight maybe we should've just kept the 2 in midfield but put Simms up top with Stewart and gone a conventional 4-4-2.
I think it is just a matter of time before we dispense with Evans O/9, and Gooch, if they are still featuring second half of the season we will be struggling imo. Advocating strengthening support for Evans in midfield is missing the point too., I agree taking both Embo and Pritch off at the same time was a surprise move. Even so Simm should have gone on to help LND up front , the long ball game has its uses and the game was calling out for it as they over ran us at times in the second half .
Evans is supposed to be the calm steadying player... not sure if he is up to it... Dan Neil, we have seen performances like yesterday before, not always in the game, is not a strong tackler etc... not sure if he is up to it. A Neil is probably going to give them both a couple of more games to see if they can step up... Personally I was surprised that Embleton was taken off...
Nothing wrong at all with Gooch imo. We need his versatility for a start. Out of the two "flexible" players in the squad I'd have him over Onein any day of the week. Great lad but a quintessential league one player.
I thought Neil played very well and showed flashes of what he was doing last season - picking the ball up in good areas and picking passes. Always showed for the ball. Got caught out a couple of times and we were very lucky that we didn't concede on the 2nd occasion but it was a hospital pass he'd been given. Embo rarely plays 90 mins and we needed an extra body alongside Evans. Problem is, we only really have O9 and that is an issue
Me and me dad were discussing the midfield options, he wonders whether we should give Alese a go in there. Big, strong lad, very quick. All the traits, on paper, we need in there. Don't know whether he's played CM before.
I’d like to see us explore the 4-4-2 on occasion. The equaliser was coming as we just weren’t holding the ball up. We looked good when we broke fast. We missed a trick not pushing Gooch on more cos he had both their lads done. There left sided defender was a ****kng awful player never seen someone misplace so many easy passes.
Have I missed something during this thread but there hasn't been any video highlights as normal? Is there an issue these days about uploading them? Being a bit thick computer wise I don't understand the intricacies about how it works.
Official Highlights: https://safc.com/news/team-news/2022/july/coventry-city/highlights-vs-coventry-city Full 90: https://www.safc.com/news/team-news/2022/july/coventry-city/full-90-vs-coventry
We played 442 in all 3 play off games and played well. Not a fan of back 3 with left back at 3rd centre half and winger at wing back. That said we could have been a couple up at half time. Decent showing for first game back.
Would have took a point at the start. Played well imo. Would prefer 3-5-2 at home or as already said 4-4-2. Ross was isolated time and time again and nobody anticipated him winning anything. Broadhead does. I believe Coventry showed us the standard we need to maintain in quality &stamina etc. (Still despise the c*nts) AN. Poor use of subs imo. Does he know you can play 5?
AN has been reluctant to use subs so far, it led to poor results in the warm ups and this was accepted but I thought it was a bit risky and unnecessary. It now seems to be carrying into the league games., and needs to change. AN's team selection was OK, but his substitutions were poor, this is a surprise considering last season, I do hope my niggling worries are groundless, we shall soon see . OaU
This is what it says . . . . Sunderland AFC is extremely disappointed by the conduct of a small minority of visiting supporters during the club’s fixture against Coventry City. Several incidents have been reported by fans of both Clubs following Sunday’s match, with objects including pyrotechnics, bottles and coins allegedly thrown towards home supporters located in the North Stand. Investigations by Northumbria Police and West Midlands Police are ongoing to identify the persons responsible and SAFC is currently in dialogue with supporters’ groups to ensure that appropriate preventative measures are put in place. The Club sincerely apologises to any supporters – home or away – impacted by this completely unacceptable behaviour and assures them that it will not be tolerated at the Stadium of Light. Three things . . . . 'by fans of both clubs' suggests that decent Coventry fans (there must be a couple !) have reported the scum involved, too 'to ensure that appropriate preventative measures are put in place' . . . . is this like they were after the last time that these scum bastards did this, or the time before that 'it will not be tolerated at the Stadium of Light' . . . . similar to that above, it is tolerated (by those that are not affected), as it was the last time, and the time before, and every ****ing time that these scum bastards visit Sunderland
Like I said, allegedly, did they or didn’t they it can’t be both. Wake up in the boardroom and move them. If someone gets hurt will they sue the club for not doing anything about it, when they new of the problem, I would.
