26 August 2013 8:30 | By Graeme Anderson PAOLO Di Canio says midfielder Cabral was left out of Sunderlandâs starting 11 for âtactical reasonsâ at the weekend. The Black Catsâ boss sprang a major surprise when he didnât start the former Basle man against Southampton on Saturday. By common consent, the 25-year-old was one of Sunderlandâs best performers in the opening game of the season against Fulham. And so it was a talking point when not only did Cabral not start but was also left on the bench when Sunderland came under great second-half pressure â the head coach turning to David Vaughan, rather than the summer signing, as his preferred substitute. Asked why Cabral wasnât used at St Maryâs, Di Canio said: âI did not play Cabral for tactical reasons, because Southampton play almost with a five across the middle and that presents its challenges. âSouthamptonâs full-backs push on to the midfield three and so you have to find a way to cope with that with your own midfield. âCabral is a not a naturally aggressive guy and I needed someone in the middle like Craig (Gardner) who would do that job for us. âThe situation is that I have two wingers who are working incredibly hard offering us options, but they are not aggressive players and I also have Seb Larsson, who is working hard but is not that sort of ânastyâ player you need. âWhen Southampton get five in midfield, they keep the ball very well and thatâs why you need someone like Craig to disrupt them and produce the sort of natural aggression he did.â The Italian felt even with Gardner snapping away in midfield â the combative Brummie was booked on his return from suspension â Sunderland were always in danger of being over-run. And, in that context, the head coach was happy to leave the south coast with a point, even though Sunderland were just a couple of minutes away from what would have been a morale-boosting victory before Jose Fonteâs leveller. He said: âI have no complaints about the draw because we could not, in all honesty, say we deserved the win. âSouthampton played better than us on the day. âSo for us to get a point out of the game is a good achievement.â
Then why did we let Alfie go? Surely a big lump like him could have disrupted their midfield. To let him go without a replacement is bordering on stupidity imo.
I thought Alfie was ****e at breaking up play to be honest. Admittedly he got better but was never a DM so even if he was still here it wouldn't solve the problem. My problem is that Cabral is a DM so why wasn't he deemed up for the job?
Hes trying players out, the problem with all the new players is that we dont know our best team yet, which is not necessarily all the best individual players.
I agree he wasnt the best but to leave us short was silly. Should have got someone in and then let him go.
If Gardener's better at anything than Cabral (other than giving away penalties of course) we've bought another dud.
We have to trust his judgment, he does all the analysis. I'm glad he is picking a team capable of beating the opposition rather than sticking with the same team week in week out with no plan b regardless of the opponent's.
Absolutely. I think the reason Alfie left is clear. He said he wanted to play games, don't all players but to accept the offer of a loan move instead being willing to fight for his place tells me he's not the character we want. He's never been good enough to be first on the team sheet. He'd rather settle for the player he is and play every game at a poor club than work hard, play less games and become a better more improved player. He's Gyan without the arrogance. He had to go but should have been replaced your quite right.
That's fair enough. If anything it shows that Catts should stay and be utilised. Saturday would have been a perfect game for him
For me catts is still our best central midfielder. So for us to sell him without pdc even giving him a go seems stupid. Ok so he maybe has had off field issues and is injury prone as hell but he should still be given a fair crack of the whip. Lets be honest with ourselves alfie was ****e. We all wanted him to be good as he was a big powerful lad and most successful teams have someone of his stature in midfield so we made excuses for him and often looked the other way. In all honesty though I saw a guy who couldn't trap a bag of sand, was pretty powderpuff in a tackle and got brushed off the ball by a strong gust of wind. Not to mention his passing and shooting was abysmal. Yeah he improved a bit toward the end of the season but he was still a long way from a premiership footballer. We defo need a new cm who can put his foot in, pick a pass and score a few goals. I hate to say it but they cost a lot of money and I just can't see us getting someone of the adequate standard.
Agree entirely. He made tactical changes and earned a point (very nearly all 3) away from home against a useful Southampton side.
exactly SAFC managers cant seem to get it right for some fans either they are wrong cos they dont have the balls to make tactical changes to a team by swapping out the players who expect to start, or they are wrong cos they do make tactical changes and the fans dont like his choice.
Alfie wanted to go. Do we want to keep a player who didnt have the gumption to stick around and fight for his place? I reckon Cabral was originally brought in as a replacemnt for Catts, but as Alfie left Catts remains in the squad (but is not way near match fit yet).
PDC is becoming a joke this season two games in. He drops the current best centre mid at the club. He bemoans lacks of physical presence and aggression but lets N'Diaye go! I'm pulling my hair out with this idiot. Does he not remember N'Diaye dominating Tiote and Sissoko in the derby and then he dominated Fellaini when we played Everton at home? Dropping Cabral for Gardner was a joke but our current midfield paring should have N'Diaye and Cabral not anyone else unless we sign a very good cm. Sort it out PDC!
Agreed at the top level you need to change the team around to match the opponents. Its the team he picked i don't get. I wrote a thread yesterday , but didn't post it as i figured it was stupid. The jist of it was the only reason for dropping Cabral in favor of Gardner was to narrow the midfield. I interpret the OP as PDC wanting to win the battle in midfield, by congesting it. However his selections would never do that. The problem with his selection was it isolated Sess (who ran about like an idiot, to his credit trying to make something happen for 30ish minutes) and Altidore (who got bullied), and left very few options to clear our lines, it was if we were playing 1/2 men down at times. Imo if this was the tactic to beat Southampton, he should have gone:- ------Cabral------Gardner/Diakite---------- -------Sess/larsson/Frankie------------------ --Johnson-------------Jackrini------ --------Whickahm------------------- Cabral and Gardner/Diakite to break up play and 1 to act as a midfield sweeper, while 1 joined Sess when going forward. Sess/Larson/Frankie would interchange with Johnson and Jackrini (sp?) and play to Whickhams main strength of holding the ball up. The wingers and the more advanced MF to fall back narrow to congest the midfield and strangle the game. Then break wide and fast. I realize i've picked 9 player to fill 6 spots. We have options now especially in midfield and IMO he went with the worst possible.
