Talking Points: Sunderland back in action on home soil!

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The Lads are back in town

Quite a lot has happened since we were last at the Stadium of Light and whilst this time it wasn’t quite as intense as the Coventry City playoff match, it was still nice to get back into the home matchday groove.

There were plenty of Sunderland fans out and about in the hours leading up kickoff, and everybody seemed to be confident going into the new campaign — not long until the competitive action begins!

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A Stadium of Light spruce up!

We’d looked at the photos beforehand but it was great to see first hand the work that’s been

carried out to make the ground feel a little more special.

The simple things like a lick of paint and updated signage/branding within the standard concourses make the stadium more appealing for supporters, whilst the new signage along the top of the Jimmy Montgomery Stand acts as the fitting tribute to one of Sunderland’s greatest ever figures — as we knew it would be.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

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Short corner concerns

This was something that bothered me last season and it still seems to be an issue as for whatever reason, Sunderland remain vulnerable to short corner routines.

I can’t imagine that this is an oversight as Régis Le Bris and his staff are so thorough in their preparations, so there must be some thinking behind constantly letting teams get a free cross into the box.

Real Betis had two such opportunities in the first half and whilst nothing came of them, it still feels like a risk to keep letting them happen unchallenged.

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Decent debuts

We saw three people turning out in Sunderland colours for the first time and although this was just a friendly, the early signs were good.

Robin Roefs was assured; Reinildo steady away and Granit Xhaka was exactly what we hoped he would be: strong physically and he made good use of the ball.

You can’t always take much from this type of match, but it was obvious that the new lads all have something about them.

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Competition for places

Although some areas of the pitch obviously still need strengthening, our midfield options look very encouraging at the moment.

It might be assumed that Xhaka will be first choice alongside Enzo Le Fée and Habib Diarra, yet nobody should rule out Noah Sadiki just yet.

He’s been one of the most eye-catching players during pre-season so far, and against the Andalusians he displayed the type of energy and agility that’s going to be needed in the coming weeks.

Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images

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The final countdown

With Le Bris making only two substitutions, this felt more like a ‘proper’ game than the ones that went on before.

Had it been fully competitive, I don’t think the defence would’ve switched off like they did for Betis’ winner, but with only two games to go before the Premier League starts, you have to assume that one of next weekend’s clashes will be approached as if it were the real thing — particularly if there’s been a busy week in the transfer market as is hoped.

That means a first choice starting eleven and a more suitable tempo, and that’s when we’ll get a better idea of where the team stands.

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