I’m not the only one then who thinks singing about Newcastle when we’re not playing them is a bit daft.
I think even the Rotherham game if he had his feet under the table longer I think we would have got the win. He knows that we need to score goals…and Rusyn has come good for him. Good for both MB and Rusyn. Hopefully Rusyn can add a couple more against the Nags
Grudging praise. I think he has done very well to be honest. To come in ahead of the Christmas schedule is probably the worst time for a coach. Time on the training ground is what they live for. The performance levels have been good in 3 games, and when we were below par our attitude got us a point. He has clearly leaned heavily on existing coaches and that to me is a really positive sign. They also look to be communicating well as a team on the touchline. He has made some good calls on players and on subs. His tactics yesterday were spot on for a tired team. He has spoken excellently in interviews, not that any coach speak particularly bothers me. A solid platform for him now to get to work with the squad he has and hopefully for Dodds to really support with some individual plans for the likes of Pembele, Rigg etc. We are in a great place in my opinion. A couple of stellar signings this window and we could be about to take off.
I'm guilty of spotting the statistic of out of Sunderlands 12 wins this season, Clarke has scored in 9 of them. So I have on occasion said "if Clarke doesn't score, we don't win" at a time when that was the case Mr Smug.
It has to be taken into account he has come in over the festive period so won't have had much time training. Probably seen as many minutes of competitive football out of the team as he has training.
Very good response mate, although I deliberately said 'score' not 'win'. I'm sure you know I'm being deliberately provocative and that my main point is how we're ahead of last season. I just get sick of people pulling the club down and finding ever more obscure ways to do it ... ... even when Rusyn scored people were using a striker getting a goal as a means to mock the club.
I think he's more than just a utility player mate. I think he brings a lot of exuberance to the team for want of a word. He's a good example to other players re training, commitment, attitude, and personality etc. Plus he's a thorn in the side of opposing players. There are a lot of players over the years that make up a short fall in skills by being just committed.
Totally get that mate but surely first and foremost you’re a good defender and that follows. Lewis Dunk is all of those, great on the ball and also a brilliant defender. You wouldn’t see Brighton play Adam Lallana CB because he can pass a ball and he’s a leader. If Mason Burstow is all of those things can we just forget the fact he can’t score and play him for his other qualities unrelated to his role?
This season we're conceding 1.08 goals per game. Last season 1.2 Season before that 1.15 How do you explain that, if o9 is as bad as you make out ? And don't say Ballard is making up for him, because Ballard also played last season
The one Stat that struck home with me is that Sunderland have won every game this season when they have scored first. that up till now is a great achievement and i doubt there will be many team in the country with the same stat
O'Nein and Ballard are hands down our best defensive partnership in my opinion for the way we play as no other defender in our squad can pass the ball as well as Luke. Replacing him would restrict the number of progressive passes from the back and slow us down, or we would need to change our style. That is also obviously the opinion of the coaches and I'm guessing the club statistics back this up or he wouldn't be there. He's not a conventional defender, but it definitely works. Any mistakes at the back get punished so it always looks worse if there is a misplaced pass, but he is in no way any more of a liability than any of the other defenders. O9 actually has a slightly higher average rating than Ballard on Fotmob, the only other Sunderland defender above him is Hume. You can't ignore his influence on the players around him either, his attitude is exactly what the young squad need.
You're right in respect of how conceding goals can almost always be construed as errors. Preston perhaps didn't close down Pritchard enough for the first goal. For the second they didn't properly tackle Clarke, pull him down for a yellow, prevent the cross or get ahead of Rusyn in the box. Yet the SKY commentators said both goals were good and I'd agree with them. I wonder if O'Nien would've been blamed for either, perhaps both goals, if we'd conceded them.
Because we rarely have any defending to do because we’re more dominant in games? When we do defend we normally have Neil and Ekwah tracking back quickly to help out. Last season Ballard missed quite a fair bit through injury, so him being in the defence has improved it. Who would’ve thought?
Why do people keep making out that there’s no centre backs who can pass a ball? Why do none of the best teams play a CM at CB yet they’re all undoubtedly better at playing out than we are?
Good morning mate. I didn't think it was any kind of attack or related to me in anyway shape or form.I was just pointing out I'd said something along the same lines back back facts rather than mindless half cut rants one would see online. I've seen videos on line of folk reviewing the game "an actual striker has scored" so I know what you mean about passive aggressive digs. I myself have looked at the table, seen how well Ipswich were doing and been a tad envious, but then realised they have remortgaged the house, went to Las Vegas and put it all on red to get promotion. I'll take our approach over theirs any day.
He gets away with plenty of mistakes where we don’t concede though so it works both ways. I don’t blame him for every goal we concede, sometimes goals are just a collective responsibility of mistakes or well worked - my opinion comes from when I’m watching him wander around the field constantly out of position, constantly clinging onto attackers to make everything a battle because he’s not comfortable in his ability to defend and how he’s in panic mode as soon as a ball is played in behind him. He offers no aerial threat whatsoever from set pieces and can’t defend them he’s about as useful as Roberts is at defending corners. He’s just there to try and disrupt rather than win the header. As I’ve mentioned previously you could take most midfielders and play them at CB and he’ll ping the ball about for fun. You don’t play a striker because he’s a leader and he takes good corners whilst neglecting the primary reason he’s on the pitch - you play him because he scores goals. Arsenal play out from the back - two 6’4 CB’s. Liverpool play out from the back - 6’4 and 6’5 CB City play out from the back - 6’3 and 6’4 CB Brighton play out from the back - 6’4 and 6’2 CB Barca play out from the back - 6’4 and 6’2 CB Bayern play out from the back - 6’3 and 6’1 CB
