Hurts to say this but the better team won. I think a draw would have been a fair result though. Also think that Roberts and Rigg need a rest for Saturdays game.
Strange how little we’ve seen of him I’d be interest to see how many chances he’s had/created in his limited minutes if any stat nerds fancy pulling it together, I reckon it’s high
I think that this forum should be locked for an hour after each game (or maybe just those few occasions where we lose) - emotions are high because we all want Sunderland to do well, but react differently. My 17yo was punching things all round the house last night. The 49yo me just sighed, rolled my eyes and went to bed. Some folk need someone or something to blame, others need to talk it through relentlessly to find answers. Unfortunately places like this can bring out the worst in some folk. I read on BBC Sport that Leeds were booed off at HT by a small number of fans. I mean.....for ****s sake!
Hear me out and this isn’t a dig at our current crop as there’s always someone better. But do we have to worry about the manager? If he could get the same buy in from a higher skilled group of players he could really be on to something if they bought into his style of play. The thing with better players is they regularly make better decisions, have better technical ability to keep it moving and convert chances more frequently. if we keep up our form I don’t see why he wouldn’t be on the radar of others. Of course I’m deflated after last night as an emotional football fan but that doesn’t stop me seeing what a job he’s done here, feel like it’s the first manager in many a year with an actual game plan and some serious tactical application.
Like Mayenda (IMHO) we'll see a lot more of him next season. We forget how young he is. He's played 140 mins in the Championship this season - 1 start and 3 sub appearances
We all react differently. I do take exception over individual posters getting targeted when reflecting on a game. Some like to pick the game apart and discuss it at length. Some are short in their reflection and move on. All good. The second we dismiss or attack any debate or criticism then the board becomes weaker.
Spot on If folk go overboard I just leave for a bit and you normally find by the next day folk have settled down Be boring if we all think the same and I love hearing what others saw in the game I didnt think anyone was overly negative last night, I think a lot were frustrated but thats normal when we lose to a last minute goal I think this forum has been really good this season, I get it's because we are doing well and the negative posters (who only appear when things are going wrong) have disappeared
I bet RLB wishes he was half as clever as some on here. I’m not saying we shouldn’t critique him but just a bit of perspective - the improvement in this side under him has been massive. He is still learning. I don’t think it was the intention to sit back in the second half we were just overrun by a better team, otherwise he’d have both Samed and Neil playing defensively and Mepham brought on as well. KTF we’re still progressing.
Probably my first time in thinking we're missing out on autos even though I think we're a better team than sheff utd and Burnley but I'll not be afraid of any team in the play offs as we've proved we play better against the so called good teams in this league. Bring it on I say
Difficult to manage really because they didn’t look like scoring from open play imo, we were doing a job. But the set pieces were becoming a problem. If he brings Mepham on we have to sacrifice a midfielder meaning we’re giving them even more control. If he brings Mayenda on (which I personally would’ve) we take a risk at the back by going forward. But as we’ve seen several times before it’s hard to hold a lead when you’re inviting pressure for the latter stages of the game so I would’ve liked for us to go for the second goal. RLB is still learning but I thought last night would’ve been perfect for him, 1-0 up against top of the league. He’s used to be being the underdog at Lorient and playing against teams who’ll control the ball which is why I think we do better against the good teams. In hindsight if we held on he would’ve been lauded as a genius for the subs but we didn’t and when the subs are a bit strange ie out of position then it’s going to be the first negative people point to. End of the day we all would’ve taken a point before the game, yes it’s frustrating when we were 1-0 up and concede two sloppy goals but the way I see it is it’s a game we expected nout from so we aren’t really any worse off.
Stayed off here last night as emotions were running high, we done Ok but I cant get worked up over getting beat by the best team in the league, we simply arent on par with Leeds and there is no shame in that, we are still progressing as a club and are probably 5-6 windows away from being able to match Leeds. Last night showed me how far away we are from bottom premier league standard and frankly its huge. I have no doubt if we did go up there would be investment but I dont want to be watching backs to the wall football like that every week. Some of our better players really struggled last night with the pace and power, Jobe looked like a 19 year old and Rigg looked like the kid he is at times but we all know they will improve further with experience, those games last night will be invaluable to their development. The subs were strange we were crying out for someone to hold onto the ball and get us up the pitch and for me Wilson & Mayenda can do that together, RLB got it wrong but he has got plenty right this season, people forget he is still learning as well. All in all I am not too disheartened, we are where we deserve to be, in the play offs.
I'm very confident we can finish this season very well with the wingers back and a bit faith in Mayenda and Aleksic.
They had Gnonto and Ramazani on the bench so they probably would to be fair, that’s the difference. Their squad depth is much better than ours and they can deputise for injuries to key players easier.
I think expectations have become higher given what we know the team and manager are capable of, personally I can't see how bringing Samed on in that position, when he looks so shot, makes any sense. I think he's a good manager, think most fans will see this, but he is definitely struggling with a few things at the minute. I'm guessing by the end of the season we will have forgotten because of the left wingers coming back.
Probably an unpopular opinion but I don’t think we tactically set up second half to sit back and defend but rather we got pinned back and just simply couldn’t get out because of Leeds quality and set up
Disappointing end to the game like many have said you just got the feeling it was coming. Not to disheartened by the performance thought first 45 was as good as we've been against top class opposition. I do get worried when we sit back and at some of the subs made but sometimes they work sometimes they don't. The bench is starting to look stronger a couple of games to get fitness back and then start to trust some of our subs a little more. Some outstanding performers last night Hume Ballard Onien but for me Dan Neil not only our best player but best on the field. Always so frustrating to lose to a last gasp goal but we need to stay focused and start a winning run again. That's what good teams do. 2nd is not out of the question but we need to put together a big run which even if it doesn't get us there will take us into the play offs in good form. Bring on Hull.
Yeah agreed with a lot that was posted post match last night, we were excellent first half, second half we weren't able to hold onto the ball and were rushed in our clearances. I felt that we could have made subs earlier in the second half to try and wrestle more control back from Leeds. I agree that Aleksic would have offered more than Samed or Poveda in occupying their defenders which completely disappeared after we took Wilson off. Rigg was starting to look weary. I'm assuming that Samed was sent onto to play that role, if so that was poor from RLB. Samed was very poor for both goals, the second in particular and I've seen little from him so far to suggest that he's worth persevering with now that we are getting players back. Patto was also very poor for the second goal and I agree that we need to look at that position this summer. Whilst I accept that Cirkin isn't getting much assistance from Le Fee, Cirkin just hasn't been on it since returning from injury and looks to have lost half a yard. I thought Hume, Ballard and 09 were excellent last night, they will have been furious with Samed's part in the second goal when they have put so much into it. Brilliant goal from Wilson and he was good first half but peripheral second half. Dan Neill was top drawer again, absolutely superb, long may it continue but we need Jobe to step up. We are now sailing close to the wind in terms of suspensions, Hume, 09, Jobe and Wilson are all within a couple of cards from a couple of game bans. RLB has talked about learning lessons and mentioned that we surrendered possession from goal kicks yesterday which has been an issue for a while now. For me though, the lessons need to include his own in terms of use of the bench which has been under scrutiny for a while. As others have said, Leeds were very strong second half and a draw would have been fair but once the equaliser goes in we looked likely to ship another from set pieces. Second place isn't gone just yet but we will need to be very consistent if we are to overhaul one of the top two. Our away form will need to improve significantly if we are to do that. Massive improvement from last season no doubt, disappointing that we've lost so many points from winning positions but hopefully with the likes of Mundle, Watson, Danns, Seelt all to come back in the next couple of weeks we will be able to take games away from other teams. On to the weekend.
There's something quite basic that I just don't get, perhaps it's me being unable to understand. it's when people say 'We sat back and invited them to attack'. At 1-0 down, at home, I just don't see what other option Leeds, or anyone else, have. If they push players further forward, more often, surely we have to mark/track them. Since I first noticed this being said I've watched other teams playing to see what happens .... everyone does the same!
