Think he needs game time otherwise he'll never be ready. Pushing him up on the wing with Seelt behind was probably to protect him. Think he'll be excellent if he gets up to speed in the next 6 months.
Likely wont see the best out of him until next season, just coming back from a big injury and adjusting to a new league
Aye it doesn’t help anything, saying that the lad must play like Messi in training to keep getting a chance in the middle of the pitch. Baffling
Just about to say Ba looked all over the shop and glad to see I’m not the only one. The kid needs some coaching to get back to basics. Creating problems rather than helping the team and his tracking back was woeful. Got to be Auoichie on ahead of him in next few games until he sorts his game out. I’m not having a whinge but he did take the shine off a very good, well managed performance.
I think Pritch is such an asset that he needs to start more, it's malpractice to leave him on the bench so often, I know we have all this young talent we need to develop and that means minutes in the pitch but quality wins points and we need to try and get a top 6 spot.
Don't usually disagree mate, but that was a classic performance. It's the third game in a week and a big game on Saturday ... ... scored twice and killed the game imo.
He's got to be very carefully managed and protected. If he was fit and physically robust he'd be in the PL.
No gripes from me with that. Fluid first half and some real goal threat. Game was done second half. Preston had nothing to offer. Easy training ground routines for us to be honest. Kept the ball when they sat off, defended when we had to. Patto not breaking sweat. Pritch mom for me, tremendous. Ekwah and Ballard great too. Hume is some player and back in the groove for me. Oh aye, Rusyn looked canny as well
Thats fair enough Still thought it was an average performance, i get not commiting loads of players forward in the 2nd half but had to move the ball quicker than we did. At the end of the day all that matters is the 3 points and we showed glimpses in the 1st half of the team we were last season. More positives today than negatives, im always bad for looking, and commenting, on the areas i feel we need to improve for the next game
If QPR can go to Ipswich, have more shots and come away with a draw, without conceding, no reason we can't ... ... create a few chances and we could even win.
Andy’s Player Ratings: Sunderland 2-0 Preston North End - Pritchard starts the year with a bang! Alex Pritchard scored a screamer and even a striker scored as we start 2024 with three points! By Andy Tomlinson@SAFCsource Jan 1, 2024, 2:28pm GMT 1 Comment Anthony Patterson: 7/10 Another good game from Patterson, made some good saves - although nothing that overly stretched him - and always looked assured. Trai Hume: 6/10 Troubled a few times by Millar and not his best game on the ball but showed good determination to recover when he was beaten. Dan Ballard: 8/10 Was up against some physical strikers today but was never troubled by them and comfortably came out on top. Luke O’Nien (C): 8/10 Got us out of trouble a few times when Preston were pressing with quick feet and a pass around the attacker and was solid defensively. Aji Alese: 7/10 Really comfortable at left back and no signs of rustiness after his long lay-off. Good in the air and Preston struggled to stretch him due to his pace and also made a good block with his shoulder after the break. Dan Neil: 6/10 A quiet but tidy game from Neil, kept the ball ticking and put a lot of work in defensively. Pierre Ekwah: 8/10 A big presence in the middle of the park, won the ball often and set up a lot of attacks with his vision. Jobe Bellingham: 6/10 Worked hard just ahead of Neil and Ekwah but not a lot of forward drive from him, other than one instance when he drove ahead of Clarke and got a cross in. Alex Pritchard: 8/10 Started the game and year off with a bang with a screamer to put us 1-0 up but as is typical we played much better football with Pritchard on the pitch, had another couple of chances he could have done better with but showed why he should be starting. Jack Clarke: 7/10 Did absolutely brilliant to put a chance on a plate for Rusyn after a driving run up the left wing but a relatively quiet game, did have one good chance very early on but curled just wide of the post. Nazariy Rusyn: 7/10 Off the mark with a really well taken goal, showing great movement to get ahead of the defender and tuck in Clarke’s ball. Also played well in general despite no other service, ran the channels and defended from the front. Substitutes Timothee Pembele: 6/10 Gave the ball away cheaply at one point but recovered well. Abdoullah Ba: 5/10 A bit careless on the ball when attacking, looks low on confidence. Jenson Seelt: 6/10 Put a good tackle in when Millar was in a dangerous position and came away with the ball. Eliezer Mayenda: 6/10 Not much chance to shine as we saw the game out. Man of the Match: Alex Pritchard Some good performances today but the man of the match has to be Pritchard, scored an absolute screamer but was always dangerous on the ball and could even have had one or two more. Buzzed around between the middle of the pitch and the right and showed why he is still a most creative outlet. please log in to view this image
We were comfortably the better side against them up here, not clinical enough which cost us, matched Leicester away again not clinical enough, we’ve battered Southampton, did a job on Leeds, absolutely no reason we can’t beat anyone in this league, likewise no reason anyone can’t beat us either that’s the beauty of it
Yep thats the thing for me, no1 doubts that when he is on form he should be starting. Its the consistency we need to see, he was done in, in that 2nd half and was ineffective but wow that 1st half performance was just a joy to watch He is up there with my fave ever sunderland players to watch, just makes it look easy. I would love him to be consistent when starting games and if he is i will happily admit i was wrong. Still think he can only start games in a row when he has a week between them to rest
Good win. Work in progress great on the ball would like to see a bit more control and press when we lose it. But lots of positives definitely something to work on Onwards and upwards Was a good win and lots of positives. The lack of tempo and movement second half and especially when we don't have the ball is still a bit worrying. This was Beales issue at Rangers. Is it a Beale tactic or are the players just getting used to a new style time will tell. But that's probably being a bit picky some massive positives to take out of today and a full week for them to work on the training ground.
People booing a 20 year old kid coming on in a home game when we 2-0 are ****ing pathetic and should stay the **** away from the stadium. Is it any wonder the kids fading fast when he’s the scapegoat this season? ****ers
