Do we have the players

To play pretty football, or more set up for the hoof the ****er and leg after it?

Stoke will be trying to bully every ball, so lets see if the passing game can wear them out, and wam, bang thank you ma'am, score a couple.

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ADAM JOHNSON insists Sunderland must ensure their new passing philosophy is accompanied by a cutting edge.

Black Cats head coach Gus Poyet has introduced a fresh approach at the Stadium of Light since succeeding Paolo Di Canio last month, with Sunderland noticeably putting the emphasis on maintaining possession.

It was a strategy which served Poyet well at his former club Brighton and has been a popular system in the Premier League over recent seasons, with Swansea, Arsenal and Wigan among those sides who have relied on ball retention.

Johnson is relishing Sunderland’s new approach, but warns that it will be pointless if it is not complemented by a goal threat.

The winger told the Echo: “When you look at Swansea, they’ve shown at times that they can pass the top teams off the park.

“But then they don’t really hurt them.

“You can’t just pass all game and not go anywhere.

“Goals win games and in the big teams, the front players are the best players. They create something out of nothing.

“Wigan kept the ball well, but ended up going down.

“I’d rather not be playing pretty football, but stay in the Premier League.

“It’s a fine line and you’ve got to balance it. You’ve got to be prepared to pass the ball, but pass it in the right areas.

“You can’t have it at the back all game because it doesn’t hurt anyone.

“If a team plays like that in front of you, you just keep your shape and it’s easy to defend against.

“It’s when a team gets behind you that it’s difficult.

“That’s what we need to do and we did it against Man City when we hurt them in the right areas.”

Poyet has introduced a change of approach in winning back possession too, with Sunderland’s players urged to compete for the ball in the opposition half.

Johnson believes that is providing a helping hand to his own attempts to be an attacking threat by giving him a platform to run at defenders higher up the pitch.

“I think I’ve seen more of the ball in the last three home games,” added the 26-year-old.

“But I think the manager wants us to have the ball even more in the opponent’s half because it’s so much easier to defend off that.

“If we can push up the pitch and win the ball back in their half, it’s easier for us to score goals.

“That’s our aim. Then we don’t have to travel 60 yards from our own goal trying to attack. That’s brilliant for me.”

 

It's a fair point. If you need to run 60 yards to get close to your opponents goal every time you attack your gonna be knackered, doesn't matter who you are.

As long as poyet is getting his message across to the players and they know what they need to do I'm happy. He's right that you need to attack when passing it about, that's obvious,but if you have the ball the opponent cannot score.

 

I think he has a point and i believe we do have the players as well. We definitely need to add a few more but right now i think the new style of play is suiting the likes of Larsson, Giacharinni, Ki and even Colback to a certain degree but we do need more.

 

We have looked better recently but I think we need to accept that this keeping possession and passing the ball around at the back will eventually lead to a couple of Nos moments. Cannot trust O'shea to make them passes all the time and some speed merchant will catch us out.

Still another 3 points today and confidence will soar. Not expecting anymore collapses like Swansea so mentally I think we are getting there.

 

I think you do O'Shea a disservice. He CAN pass the ball accurately over ten or twenty yards. It's just that under previous regimes he regularly didn't have that option as his team-mates were statuesque at times. Gus is trying to change that. Players moving into space reduces the pressure on the guy with the ball.

 

I accept he can pass 99% of the time but I believe it will be him who gives us our Nos moment. Hope I'm wrong. Better player altogether with crunchie head by his side

 

The tactics worked well against the toon and even better against Man City. I think we have the tools in the box - more than enough for today anyway.

We win and win well with a good passing game today, I wonder what she-ra will have to say tonight?

x

 

This ^

The amount of times any player at any club is moaned at for losing a ball when its not their fault is huge. When they dont have an option because people dont move they get the stick. If 3 players are in a good passing position and they **** up, well then fair enough, but the majority of the time its the team mates that let him down.

that said i think O'shea will get better the more time he spends with gus and vitally playing with Brown.

 

Also, it was nice to see Ki dropping back as a kind of sweeper to pick up the ball between the back 4. It gives him the opportunity to see the whole pitch. In recent times, the midfield would face the defence and then the defenders would be expected to play the forward pass - mostly aimless long balls.