Personally I thought Beale got it right yesterday. I would have expected Rusyn instead of Burstow but thought the lad had his best game for us. Jobe finally had a position to play in and did it well. Ekwah further forward is a must with Neil the defensive midfielder. Ba is now showing us what a player he can be. And a big hand to the rest of them who showed fight & commitment. I also think Seelt is going to be an absolute star with a run of games. I would struggle to pick a MotM for us yesterday. Everyone of them did their bit.
I think Ekwah higher up and Neil holding is so much better for the whole team. It has been an experiment this season, I think to try and get Neil more advanced, but it seems to have stifled Ekwah and others. I love Neil in that holding role personally and think that is where his career will be spent. Ekwah looked a lot freerer yesterday and it suited him so much. I really hope we stick with this. Beale should get a bit of credit for making the switch as well.
Ba has bags of courage because he'll try to engage and beat players which takes them out of the game ... much safer to lay off an easy square pass. And it takes guts when he knows a few of the SOL 'experts' will groan if he loses the ball. When Clarke squared the ball to him i immediately thought about the sitter he ballooned over the bar and what the reaction would be if he missed ... ... probably the quickest my brain has worked in years
When I sit and watch Neil I just think he’s too good for us, so I’m happy to enjoy every time he’s on the team sheet. It’s nice that Jude keeps coming to watch his future England team mate, the whole ‘watching Jobe’ is just his cover.
Beauty that goal and Ba was calm when finishing. The lad was very good yesterday. Sometimes we forget how young and inexperienced some of these lads are.
Something I noticed yesterday but I dont go to every game so it is a bit of a question. The pre game warm up looked really intense. Proper high tempo workload and effort levels. Watching the access all areas it is noticeable they come in with a sweat on. Has it been like that all season of is it something coming recently. I think it is how it should be as it helps you starts fast.
Just as a little side note with Ba. What immense character this young lad has show to recover from being booed onto the park and having his head down to being ‘**** this’ and proper stepping up and being one of our best since. Young lad foreign country. Massive bollocks on the lad and go on son. Love to see it.
Well done Beale, the squad and the staff under difficult circumstances, I hope we have turned the corner and kick on. I’ve gave him some jip but credit where it’s due, roll on Boro
I mentioned this last week in relation to Ba. There's bound to be family and friends of these young lads coming to our games just as will be the case at kids games, all over the country, this morning. I thought it cringing that people booed Beale for Ba's introduction, some thought I was wrong. But ffs, Jobe, Ba, Rigg, etc, will have mams, dads and close family proudly sat in the stands. I'd even include Beale, as he's settling in, if his partner was there, especially if they're sat near the owner. Sunderland supporters have been well regarded over the years ... ... I really hope that isn't spoiled buy a handful of self entitled loudmouths.
Couldn’t agree more mate. We have an incredible, loyal and passionate fan base, it eerily obsessed with the club. It should be an eternal asset to the club and the team. It’s that simple. For the most part it is but when it falls down, we all feel it. Was fearful for yesterday and was delighted to find actually no tension, just a bit flat. We pull together and galvanise then that’s the best we can do for the club, that’s what we are there for. Not saying we don’t speak up when it goes wrong, but in the stadium we are there for one thing only, to support the lads. SUPPORT the lads. Thought the crowd was great yesterday after a few rough weeks could easily have gone another way.
Social media magnifies and amplifies everything and people who are naturally pessimistic can easily find more of their ilk who'll agree with them. So we see posts that wind up the bile and belief that the angry mob have more pitchforks than is actually true. When there are warnings of a toxic crowd reaction if Jobe starts, or Ba is brought on, or if Stoke score then you know it's becoming hysterical. There's been a barrage of calls to protest at the game, get the owner out, sack the manager, etc ... ... which all amounted to the square root of fck all. Forty thousand people and the vast majority cheered for the Lads from the start, we should all let that sink in I reckon.
Aye we all know it’s a tiny minority mate. They speak amongst themselves which leads them to believe their voice is the loudest. I know the conversations I have daily with lads and they haven’t once been around getting the ownership out of the club. It’s never been a topic. We are all long term (20 years plus) season card lads. Even the BCB fiasco (and it was…) we were like ‘****ing hell we gonna get battered for this’ then that was that. WMS etc aren’t ****ing ‘super fans’, they are a small cross section of a huge fanbase. I did appreciate them coming in here for input prior to the meeting, but let’s be real, gotta be 98% of our fanbase goes nowhere near either forum and probably 70% plus don’t bother with the increasingly unstable facey groups. Twitter has always been whinging twats but that’s not SAFC exclusive that’s all clubs. Arsenal lot used to be hilarious on there.
Ba with time is a very good finisher. The one he ballooned came quickly at him. Burstow’s part in that goal was superb. Clarke down the wing, Burstow moves to the front post leaving Ba on his own as the defenders tracked the runner. Brilliant goal all around
