Match Day Thread Sunderland AFC v West Bromwich Albion - Tuesday 26th November 2024 - KO 20:00

[Prehab26]

Just as well we all have you for that or we’d be lost

Not at all. But I do feel some have a tendency to just keep the red and white specs on and not keep objectivity in scope. It's not unlucky that we have drawn 5 in a row. There are lots of reasons and how we have set up, played and refusal to change the shape or bench is a big part of that.

We are doing well and I am very pleased with the start however we have lost our spark and momentum.

Hope we get it back or the promotion party will falter by the time the new year comes round.

 

[smithy in nl]

what would indicate that? Brownes found himself deputy to rigg for the most part, shamed would have to replace Neil and he hasn’t budged from the DM role even through a patch of bad form.

Huggins wouldn’t oust cirkin or Hume despite rating him and seelt above Mepham, Ballard, onien? What suggests that

Can talk about who you think or I think is better all day, I still think we are doing well and I'm confident we will get promoted.

we've had loads of injuries and kept on churning points out, in the past we'd of lost them games but we are finding ways now the players are growing and fight for every ball.

 

[Prehab26]

Can talk about who you think or I think is better all day, I still think we are doing well and I'm confident we will get promoted.

we've had loads of injuries and kept on churning points out, in the past we'd of lost them games but we are finding ways now the players are growing and fight for every ball.

The culture and fight is a fair point and a good one. It's the young lads are developing but I feel we a 2 or 3 quality players away from getting promoted.

 

[smithy in nl]

The culture and fight is a fair point and a good one. It's the young lads are developing but I feel we a 2 or 3 quality players away from getting promoted.

That's fair enough and we might get them January either way I think it's gona be a very "interesting" second half of the season.

 

[WorkyTicketFTM]

we’ve had injuries yes and they have had an impact but those injuries don’t cover the collapse at 2-0 the other week and the mill wall result.

The millwall result, had Aleksic but his chance in the stand we’d have had a 1-0 win and it would have been a great dig in and win away performance after an impressive first half and an unfortunate extended stoppage. When they broke away after he missed there was an element of naivety and a compounding of mistakes, someone should have just wiped him out.

then last night for me another two points dropped, can argue they played anti football and didn’t want to play but I’d argue the other way to give ourselves some credit as we pressed and we’re organised and prevented them getting out their third for the most part.

their possession based coach whose highly rated wasn’t able to do anything that had them move the balls through the lines.

we had chances to win last night even tho most were half chances. A number of good performances from individuals but a few concerns also.

all in all I feel like we’ve dropped 6 points the last 3 games and considering two have been in the fashion they have it’s not a great look and not what you need in this league.

Additionally we’re crying out for action in Jan, particularly out wide and as ever DM. It has to happen otherwise we’ll find ourselves stretched like this come march time.

Coventry one was tough to take, felt like a loss. Listening to people keep saying “it’s a good point” or “it’s still a point on the board” when we drop points against poor teams is getting tedious. Before you know it we’ll blink and be 5th. Watford have a good run of games in December too, so could even be 6th at Xmas if we don’t get back to winning ways. These are the games that come back and bite you on the arse when you just miss out at the end.

 

[Frazier the Lion]

All teams miss a couple of players here and there. It's the depth and ability to use who is on the bench that makes the difference. Either RLB hates subs or he thinks the bench is **** and the squad is poor.

It’s mostly the former. He’s not one for throwing on fresh legs in the end stages of a game. I honestly don’t think that will ever see him use all five subs even if we’re completely injury free. he’s very much like Pep in that he doesn’t rotate much and he’s not that bothered about subs

 

[Frazier the Lion]

At sea all day yesterday how did we play

Not as bad as online Sunderland fans would have you believe

 

[marcusblackcat]

He has been good but the other 2 are a step above and need to start.

Step above in what respect? Nobody in the team carries the ball or passes out of defence better than him. So we are struggling for goals and you’d drop our player who is best at that? And also is most experienced. Something the young players need. What message does it send dropping a player who has been close to
Our best this season?

 

[Prehab26]

It’s mostly the former. He’s not one for throwing on fresh legs in the end stages of a game. I honestly don’t think that will ever see him use all five subs even if we’re completely injury free. he’s very much like Pep in that he doesn’t rotate much and he’s not that bothered about subs

Won't end well with such a young team then. Need to rotate as fatigue just drops performances. Rigg for example has been canny poor for a few games.

But we don't have a single person who RLB would bring on in place of him or Neil. That's an issue.

 

[WorkyTicketFTM]

It’s mostly the former. He’s not one for throwing on fresh legs in the end stages of a game. I honestly don’t think that will ever see him use all five subs even if we’re completely injury free. he’s very much like Pep in that he doesn’t rotate much and he’s not that bothered about subs

Cost us two points at millwall though. Injury time subs waste time. It never gets added back on properly. Naive and stupid not to make any with a 1 goal lead.

 

[Prehab26]

Step above in what respect? Nobody in the team carries the ball or passes out of defence better than him. So we are struggling for goals and you’d drop our player who is best at that? And also is most experienced. Something the young players need. What message does it send dropping a player who has been close to
Our best this season?

I think Ballard and Mepham are PL quality and both will play in that league next year with us or another team.

I don't see 09 ever been wanted by a PL club. Ballard and Mepham are a step above 09 and will be valued and sought after as such. 09 has done amazing and he has played well. But I would have 09 on the bench and those 2 at the heart of our defence.

 

[Frazier the Lion]

Won't end well with such a young team then. Need to rotate as fatigue just drops performances. Rigg for example has been canny poor for a few games.

But we don't have a single person who RLB would bring on in place of him or Neil. That's an issue.

Rigg was better last night and warranted staying on the pitch. Much more so than recent games anyway. He had Connolly he could’ve brought on for him last night but he chose not to. That’s just the way he is I think. I agree about fresh legs , though. I’d like to see him involve more players

 

[Prehab26]

Rigg was better last night and warranted staying on the pitch. Much more so than recent games anyway. He had Connolly he could’ve brought on for him last night but he chose not to. That’s just the way he is I think. I agree about fresh legs , though. I’d like to see him involve more players

That has to happen or burn out and fatigue is going to bite hard. The championship is a beast of a league and absolutely relentless.

 

[Robertson]

Disappointing last night but credit to West Brom as they were very solid. On another day, or with a cooler head, our lads put one of those (few) chances away and it's a different story.

 

[marcusblackcat]

I think Ballard and Mepham are PL quality and both will play in that league next year with us or another team.

I don't see 09 ever been wanted by a PL club. Ballard and Mepham are a step above 09 and will be valued and sought after as such. 09 has done amazing and he has played well. But I would have 09 on the bench and those 2 at the heart of our defence.

See what Reg does. I agree about the defensive qualities of Ballard and Meehan absolutely. But neither of them can play the football O’Nien does. Neither can pass like him or move the ball forward like him. And if we rely on Patterson and Neil doing that I think we’ll go backwards. As I say, 2 best defenders doesn’t mean 2 best players for the team. I thought O’Nien was superb at right back last night.

 

[Brainy Dose]

Seasons in this division can be very cyclical. Teams like Burnley,Boro,Norwich had indifferent starts,now looking better.They'll have a stuttering point again at some time.We had a great start,now dropped off a bit,but we'll come back into winning ways soon.No-one keeps momentum going good or bad forever in this league.
Last night WBA had little or no ambition and we were hardly threatened.If we can improve our final third creativity and get our injured players back.....Cirkin,Connolly and Mundle...I'm optimistic.

 

[Prehab26]

See what Reg does. I agree about the defensive qualities of Ballard and Meehan absolutely. But neither of them can play the football O’Nien does. Neither can pass like him or move the ball forward like him. And if we rely on Patterson and Neil doing that I think we’ll go backwards. As I say, 2 best defenders doesn’t mean 2 best players for the team. I thought O’Nien was superb at right back last night.

He was good I agree. But Hume is a better fullback and the other 2 are better centre backs. So for me, he drops to the bench. I think he will on Friday, if everyone is fit.

 

[MadMackem77]

Didn’t say much last night because I wanted to avoid an overreaction

Thought we did everything right until the ball got out wide. It’s a hard game to create anything in the middle of the pitch due to WBA setup, so we were forced wide but our wingers were wasteful. I don’t see any scenario where my winger should complete 55/58 passes in a game. He made more passes than Rigg, Bellingham and Neil.

I love PR but we really need an affective RW.

Chance creation is a problem. It’s evident. Not to be like everyone else but I’m hoping this isn’t down to the appointment of Pedro Ribeiro. Since he’s came in we’ve made significantly less chances and have been more cautious. Which yes, the defence is solid. I don’t mind it. But we’ve got to have a balance.

anyway that’s my only worry coming out of this run. 3 0-0s a 2-2 with 2 worldies and a 1-1 with a worldie. We need to get service to Isidor

 

[Frazier the Lion]

Cost us two points at millwall though. Injury time subs waste time. It never gets added back on properly. Naive and stupid not to make any with a 1 goal lead.

I guess the thing that we can never know is how often that reluctance to change things has gained us points. There’s been a fair few occasions this season where the starting 11 have worked things out mid game and gone on to get us three points. And that’s before we consider that the long-term benefits of players being able to recognise game situations and apply that learning further on down the line. It’s definitely a balance point though. We have to be very careful about burnout later in the season.

 

[MadMackem77]

Didn’t say much last night because I wanted to avoid an overreaction

Thought we did everything right until the ball got out wide. It’s a hard game to create anything in the middle of the pitch due to WBA setup, so we were forced wide but our wingers were wasteful. I don’t see any scenario where my winger should complete 55/58 passes in a game. He made more passes than Rigg, Bellingham and Neil.

I love PR but we really need an affective RW.

Chance creation is a problem. It’s evident. Not to be like everyone else but I’m hoping this isn’t down to the appointment of Pedro Ribeiro. Since he’s came in we’ve made significantly less chances and have been more cautious. Which yes, the defence is solid. I don’t mind it. But we’ve got to have a balance.

anyway that’s my only worry coming out of this run. 3 0-0s a 2-2 with 2 worldies and a 1-1 with a worldie. We need to get service to Isidor

Also of course it’s very difficult to break down a team playing like that. Specifically a good team. They’ve got good defenders, midfielders. It wasn’t like a low end team sitting back.

I’ve got a feeling we’ll win at Sheffield but if not I think we’ll see us create more because there’s no way they sit back against us