Match Day Thread Sunderland AFC v Cardiff City FC– Sunday 24th September 2023 - KO 15:00

No good having competition if they don’t get a chance tho

 

Said the same to my dad, hard for us to tell what the tempo etc was like in training though. Im sure they would have spoken to the data team about what the data was showing on each player

 

God players will be given a chance, just because he didnt change a winning team doesnt mean others wont get a chance over this season

 

I know but we’ve got a big good squad just because we’ve won a couple doesn’t mean others can’t play. It’s a long old season and to play 3 games in a wk is tough.

 

That's right mate. I expected TM to make 1 or 2 changes against Blackburn - he didn't. Was very surprised to see the same line up today. With a squad as good as ours, there should be no need for burnout.

 

My thoughts also, got a lot of time for the lad but he's been off

 

Hope you’re right, I’ve not got the best feeling about mobray tbh!

started having doubts when he was using the media to complain etc he got what he wanted and won’t change the team now it’s weird.

 

I'd be playing Hemir over Burstow he looks a better player to me, more likely to make something happen.

 

Could've played until midnight and we wouldn't have scored; could tell after 20 mins it was just gonna be one of those days. Onwards and upwards. We'll win on Friday.

 

I honestly get that but hard to know what they looked like in training. If they all looked really sharp in training then its hard to change the team.

Always easy with hindsight, if we had still lost n made changes loads of folk would be saying 'why change a winning team'

I do think we will freshen it up on Friday night though

 

I’d be playing two strikers at home when you know there going to come for a point

 

Not so much the freshening up that’s pissed me off it’s the fact we are still trying to play like we don’t have strikers! Why?

 

Andy's Player ratings:
https://rokerreport.sbnation.com/20...f-city-the-lads-lose-out-to-late-sucker-punch
Anthony Patterson: 6/10
Bit of a lucky goal for Cardiff, with their player knowing nothing about it, leaving Patterson with no chance. Pretty much a passenger otherwise but did make a really good save in injury time to prevent another goal.
Trai Hume: 6/10
Tidy on the ball and put in his usual strong tackles but put such a sloppy ball out of play for the corner that Cardiff scored from.
Dan Ballard: 7/10
Good display from Ballard, dominating the Cardiff frontline until late on when the defence looked wide open as the team pushed for an equaliser.
Luke O’Nien (C): 6/10
Was marking the Cardiff player who scored, so will be disappointed that he didn’t make it harder for him. Otherwise wasn’t particularly stretched until late on.
Niall Huggins: 8/10
Provided a lot of thrust from left back throughout the game, showing some pace to cause Cardiff problems.
Dan Neil: 7/10
Some really nice touches in the middle of the park and almost everything went through him. Did get lucky late on when he lost the ball deep in our half but like a number of our players he looked tired at that point. Had a couple of good efforts in quick succession blocked.
Alex Pritchard: 7/10
Had a very good chance in the first half and probably should have done better with his that chance and tested the goalkeeper after the break. Linked up play well but became less of an influence as the game ticked down.
Abdoullah Ba: 6/10
Made a really good chance for Pritchard after playing a one-two with Jobe in the first half and put in a peach of a cross too. Good on the ball as usual, other than one heavy touch which saw him get booked, quiet in the second half.
Jobe Bellingham: 7/10
Played a nice ball into Ba in the build up to the Pritchard chance and had half a chance himself with a header. Got around the pitch well and did not play like a player who only turned 18 yesterday.
Jack Clarke: 7/10
Wasn’t the consistent threat he has been lately, with Cardiff working hard to deny him room but still caused problems. Had one chance when he skipped past two players and forced a good save from the goalkeeper. Looked very tired towards the end.
Mason Burstow: 6/10
Put in a lot of effort off the ball, charging down Cardiff defenders making unseen runs but struggled to get involved again with the ball.

Substitutes
Patrick Roberts: 6/10
Tried really hard to make something happen but sometimes a little too hard and ran into dead ends. Looked dangerous though and forced a good save after being picked out by Clarke.
Adil Aouchiche: 6/10
Another good cameo, whipped in a good cross shortly after coming on, had another effort on target and linked up well with his new team-mates.
Luis Hemir: 6/10
Kept coming deep to try and get involved, with very little coming his way in the box. Linked up well and almost picked out Ballard with a header from a deep Neil cross.
Nazariy Rusyn: 6/10
Looked quite lively after coming on but unfortunately Cardiff scored as he was waiting on the sideline and that seemed to sap all their energy out his team-mate’s legs.
Man of the Match: Niall Huggins
Worked really hard down the left wing, getting up and down all game and causing real problems with his pace. Linked up well with Clarke with the only downside was being unable to find the final ball consistently.Cardiff really punished the gap he vacated when he went off and really should have made it two.

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Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images

 

Takes time to adapt tho, not as simple as we sign strikers so we instantly change our style of play

We played so long without strikers thatll it take time for us to change. Itll also take time for strikers to adapt to how we play

Remember it takes players time to settle into a new team

We were joint top scorers before this weekend so scoring goals isnt normally an issue - we scored 11 in the last 3 games!!!!

We are 5th in the league and we know we still have levels to go up

This 1 game isnt going to define this team

 

Fair dos guys, we've robbed you blind there by the seems of it.

We've been rather unfortunate in all our other away games, so riding our luck massively and coming up trumps for a change was bound to happen at some point, you guys were just the unlucky sods on the end of it.

Good luck for the remainder of the season (our return game aside)

 

A goal, of any kind for us, and this conversation would be completely different ...

... I don't think we looked tired, don't think we played bad and don't think any player was that bad.

Just didn't work out whereas Southampton, QPR and Blackburn did imo.

 

No absolutely won’t define our team or season I’m just baffled that with all the options we have we play one up top all game and can’t break a team down at home.

 

Actually enjoyed the game We are a good team played well just need to work out how to win at home. But feel we now have the players to start and change things. Up to TM to work things out KTF chaps

 

Came down to poor finishing, their GK made 4 or 5 saves so not like we didnt have chances - we just didnt take them today

2 strikers doesnt always make you more dangerous, for me its the runners from deep that cause defences problems and we just lacked that when Jobe went off.

Needed more from our wide players as the game wore on, unfortunately them n pritchard struggled the last 15/20 mins

Bring on friday night

 

Which proves he should have tweeked the system a bit?