I think we need to watch Jones and his speed, although Hume is a solid defender he isn’t the quickest Huggins would match him speed for speed. Going into the game though either way round is good for me. It was telling that roberts was subbed on wed and not ba, don’t think central is roberts game whereas adil looks very good there.
The left back area seems to be a weakness for them, its been mentioned in a number of places, lets just hope whoever plays wide right has him on toast. I do agree Roberts doesnt look as good in the number 10 role
There's a strange phenomenon I've noticed, on social media, regarding pessimists and Sunderland. Pessimists, or realists as they call themselves, will almost inevitably post 'this will be a tougher game than most people think', followed by the prediction of a defeat or a draw ... ... post match the same people are moaning that we should've had enough to win the game and we've thrown points away And despite saying how poor we are will say, throughout the season, we should be higher up the league ... ... how the hell does that work!
Whoever's playing either full back position will have needed some help sleeping last night ... ... if Roberts and Clarke, flying at you isn't bad enough there's the prospect of Ba, Huggins, Aouchiche, etc, to contend with.
So, I think this will be a very tough game and I would be happy with a draw. But we are obviously more than capable of winning, we can genuinely beat anyone in this league. Im not sure that makes me a pessimist per se. If anything it’s trying to manage my own expectations. If we are 1-0 up, refuse to make subs and end up 1-1 I will of course be frustrated we didn’t win, even if I’d have taken a draw before the start. regarding where we are in the league, I am over the moon with it. If we finish 4th it’s a cracking improvement. We can definitely get 2nd though. But I think we could also get 12th All I know is this is my favourite Sunderland side ever and I’d probably not swap this feeling of excitement about our future for any other time I’ve supported the club. Even the PL 7th finishes always felt a bit flash in the pan to me. This feels like sustained growth. Loving it. But a draw would be good result today. Keep the momentum up. Home losses are no fun. International break in 4th and not having lost in a while. Take that.
What annoys me is when people post 'this will be a tougher game than most people think' as if they know best. All games are tough because the opposition wants a result as well. Leicester could only beat Bristol City, at home, with a dodgy second half penalty. I don't need people telling me today will be tougher than I think, in any case it could equally be 'a Southampton' or 'a Cardiff'.. How tough it was won't be known until after the game.
Looking forward to this game. Difficult as it may be it's between 2 teams in good form. Should make for an exciting game. Fancy us to nick this one. Right time to set off. Keep the faith lads and lasses.
Have a funny feeling we’ll go 0-1 down early, be behind at halftime, but second half score a quick brace and win 2-1
Probably psychologicaly it is hard for for people to see that their expectations are being met and when they realise it they Change the expectations to a new level. If you notice when people are given somewhere to vent and complain they will always find something to complain about and make the trivial int something more important
Had a smoggie electrician round earlier. Reckons he'll be disappointed with a draw today as our defence is ****e and our cf is a joke. Said doubling up on Clarke and Roberts and it's job done. We'll see.
For years the moan was the lack of pace/strength/height/options/full backs etc etc etc ... ... now we have all that the moans have evolved into 'can't speak the lanuage well enough' or 'too many injuries in training'. No club is perfect, Man City just lost at Wolves
Yes, that won't leave any space for the rest of our team ... ... who's marking Huggins while this is going on.
