Matchday Musings: A good performance means more than the result to Sunderland

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As much as I try to convince myself not to get too carried away with what I see in pre-season games, I still can’t help it. I was diving all over when Enzo Le Fée scored on Saturday night, because it’s my nature to just support Sunderland no matter what.

It’s the same when we lose. Usually, anyway. I can’t help but feel down and disappointed after a loss, no matter how unimportant it probably is in the grand scheme of things.

Yet, after the loss to Sporting Lisbon – in which we conceded and didn’t

score – I sit here brimming with confidence and positivity. There was so much to be happy with, despite the scoreline. The performance from Sunderland was all that ultimately mattered.

The side which lined up in the first half was pretty close to what I expect will start the game against West Ham on the opening day of the season, and it’s clear that Régis Le Bris is already trying to form some partnerships around the pitch and is attempting to build cohesion, which I guess is important when integrating new players into the team.

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In particular, that middle three of Enzo Le Fée, Habib Diarra, and Noah Sadiki looks pretty close to what you’d call a very decent Premier League midfield. Despite all of them being new to each other, there’s an instant connection that you can visibly see when watching them on the pitch, and seeing that develop further over the summer will give great enjoyment to us all – well, everyone except the players that they’ll be keeping out of the team. For Jenson Seelt, who has missed an awful lot of football over the last two years or so, he did himself no harm with his performance, firmly grasping the opportunity before him with both hands. I’m not quite sure he’s ready to start the season in the Premier League, but you wouldn’t put it past him, and had we signed the lad this summer, we’d all be raving about what a decent centre-half he is, so let’s wait and see.

Some of the patterns of play during that first 45 – which in most cases were started or involved the influential Enzo Le Fée – were very exciting. Sunderland were the better team and against a top side of international footballers who are preparing for the start of their season next week, that should give us great hope.

The only real disappointment, conceding aside, was the lack of options we had in terms of the missing players. Despite that, it allowed some of our younger lads the opportunity to shine and, in particular, Thomas Lavery and Jenson Jones at full-back had good games. Further up the pitch, Ahmed Abdullahi put himself about against a quality operator in Gonçalo Inácio, and Timur Tutierov occasionally frightened Sporting’s backline with his pace and directness.

Photo by Gualter Fatia/Getty Images

Having seen what we’d seen in the first half, I was hoping that Dan Neil would really turn it up a notch and show why he should be firmly in the manager’s thinking for the new season, but he didn’t do too much and faces a fight for his spot in the side. That’s not a bad thing, because the standards have been raised and all of our players need to step up – Neil included. I can’t help but wonder if his unresolved contract situation might be playing a part in his current status in the team, and whether that’s weighing heavily on his mind at present, so let’s hope for a swift resolution either way before the season starts properly.

All in all, it was a decent run-out and the lads can be happy with not just how they performed here, but also in the game on Saturday. The training camp has undoubtedly been of great benefit, setting us up nicely for the week building up to the trip to Hearts, where I’d imagine we’ll see an even more settled team and more clues as to how we might line up once the Premier League starts and the proper football commences.

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