What needs to change at Sunderland Draw number six and Sunderland are still looking for something to get excited about. A point away from home at Stoke City would normally be considered a great result but in a season where Sunderland have won just a solitary Premier League game it has failed to raise spirits on Wearside. While it has been an underwhelming start at the Stadium of Light, to suggest there is something fundamentally wrong with Sunderland is harsh. A win over an inferior Middlesbrough team on Tuesday would place Sunderland within three games of a first major trophy in 40 years. While with a game in hand on every team above them a win over a poor Aston Villa team on Saturday could see the Black Cats in the top half for the first time. The most frustrating aspect of Sunderlandâs play has been how deep and how often Martin OâNeillâs men have been forced to defend and invite pressure. At times this approach has best suited the team, against a Liverpool team overly concerned with patient passing allowing their slow build up was probably the best approach. This mentality also may have helped greatly against a then, unbeaten Swansea, who are much more comfortable in possession than the current Sunderland outfit. But even in those two fixtures I felt a negative attitude hindered Sunderland. Not allowing full-backs to often venture beyond the half-way line while wanting both central midfielders always behind the ball, comes across as old-fashioned and greatly detrimental in attempting to create goal-scoring chances. Lack of confidence was brutally evident in drawing with West Ham. A goal up, the North East side sat back and allowed West Hamâs best passer, Mark Noble, among others the freedom to play and attack Sunderland at will. One instant change Iâd like to see from OâNeill is greater freedom in attack and less negativity when out of possession. Having lots of possession at home shouldnât be the culture shock it was for Sunderland against Newcastle. Other than an overly negative approach the main thing which needs to change is the performance of some of Sunderlandâs biggest stars. Stephane Sessegnon was rightfully dropped by his 60 year old manager and hopefully OâNeill will see the desired response from the Benin international on Tuesday. The 28 year old has endured a frustratingly miserable start to the season, which has exposed just how overly dependent Sunderland are on him. One of the Premier Leagueâs most creative players a return to form against a team he tormented at the Riverside last year, could prove a turning point for not just Sessegnon but Sunderland. Also recently admitting to not being fit enough or determined enough yet in a red and white shirt, now is the time for Adam Johnson to step up. A £10 million marquee signing the winger was expected to add creativity, goals and quality to Sunderland. So far Johnson has failed on all three fronts. While scapegoating a player who missed three game through injury, had little pre-season and also suffered a severe illness at the Etihad is harsh. The inspirational signing needs to start playing like the player who allowed Sunderland fans to believe a top eight finish wasnât beyond the realms of possibility this year. My point is there is little wrong with Sunderland and this could easily turn into a memorable season on Wearside, but in our sixth straight Premier League season, and with a decent amount of talent, it isnât a lot to ask for more creativity. Sunderland also need the performance of their best players to improve to avoid a season of under-achievement.
Change of tactics and some personnel will do it, we can then work on how MON wants his team to play gradually. I've no doubt we will end up playing on the counter eventually as MON wants but, he will need to get the players in to do that.
4-4-2 can be dangerous against a team that plays 4-5-1/4-3-3. It places massive pressure on your 2 CM's to dominate the 3 CM's of the opposition. Pardew quite often opts for 4-4-2 (much to my frustration) as it quite often results in the opposition having more of the ball and allows them to dictate play. Against Middlesbrough & Villa I'd got two up top as you're the superior team. Away from home and at home against the top 4/5 I'd keep to your 4-5-1, there's certainly no shame in an away point and draws against the champions league teams at home.
I think the biggest change needs to be the supporters unreasonable expectations? We have been absolutely utter ****e for the best part of 40 years and all of a sudden we have the best manager in my lifetime but just because we are not top 6 after 8 games there is a groundswell of discontentment and mutterings. We are a comfortable mid table club right now, which for us older supporters is massive progress in itself, and its important to recognise what we are trying to build long term here at the club. So what we really need to do is quit giving the bloke a hard time and let him do his job. So it will take a little more time to see the best of AJ and Sess and we are not performing as we all hoped but he hasn't even been here a year yet. We are yet to see our full squad to choose from and have had to accommodate several changes in defence already this season. If we are still playing ****e in 2 years time then okay but after 10 months? Come on lads ffs. We are on the verge of playing our 2nd cup quarter final inside 8 months and have only been beaten off the current champions in their own back yard. We need some luck and a bit more adventure for sure but we are hard to beat and don't concede many (3 clean sheets in 8 games) so we are not a million miles away lads. Keep the faith and show some bollocks lads. MoN is the real deal.
Never been more sure in my entire life and if we get to a quarter final, or semi final, or who knows even better, you will feel pretty foolish to have said otherwise and when we finish top 10 with ease this season you will be eating humble pie for a year.
we have the second best defence in the entire premier league after almost a quarter of the season gone...
we have two midfielders who on their day can light up the premier league; they just haven't done it yet for whatever reason, but they won't have become bad players overnight. we're not playing great but we are picking up points and ticking over. it's funny, us fans spent years banging on about how we would be realistic and wanted mid-table stability before getting over-excited and making unreasonable demands of a manager who can eventually get us to where we want to be, yet here it is and some of us seem ready to piss it all away over a few boring performances.
We are solid from the back to the front now but need our flair players such as Johnson, Larsson, Sessegnon and McClean to get their acts together. Its not the tactics or the formation its the players. I really think we deserve the 40 years of failure club we have with some of our fans ridiculous demands. MoN has been here less than a year and we are on the verge of our 2nd cup quarter final and have only been beaten once in 8 league games this season AND we have a leading contender for the top scorer already in our ranks. He has nearly half the total Bendtner got in the whole of the season last year after 7 games. I'm pissed off at the attitudes of some of our fans at the minute. Does it show?
aye, you seem a bit tetchy like. i can sympathise with those who are disappointed with the way we are playing at the moment, but we have the players to play better, they just aren't doing it at the moment, and over time MON will get it right. he finished 11th with villa in his first season, then they finished 6th three times in a row. all managers who don't have an oil baron's backing or a spectacularly good scout (some would say lucky scout... haha) need time to turn an average mid table team into a good one. we've been average at best since we got into the premier league, but we have a team that's the right age and in a couple of years with a few more transfer windows like the one we've just had, could be a real force. keep the faith folks!
This wouldn't be so big an issue if them lot hadn't overachieved last season. If they were rumbling around the bottom of the table, there wouldn't be so many grumbling. I for one am reasonably happy with where we are at - we clearly have the firepower to do better and will undoubetdly do so. In the meantime, being beaten only once and being mid-table and with a game in hand against Reading, all while we're supposedly playing like **** isn't too bad at all. Our current points per game once projected over a whole 38 game season would result in about the same as what we achieved under Bruce (43ish). So let's all have a coke and a smile
