As football fans, we’re conditioned to react to results. Whether we win, lose, or draw, the outcome of the most recent match generally dictates our mood, our perception of the performance, and our perception of the general state of the club.
And after Saturday’s defeat – our third successive at the Stadium of Light, not that anyone really needs reminding – and our FA Cup exit to Port Vale, questions are being asked of the playing squad and Régis Le Bris too.
Some of those questions are fair enough
– particularly after the FA Cup performance – but it’s important that collectively we don’t spend much time looking back and picking over the bones of just one Premier League win in the last six, and that poor FA Cup exit.
The reality of Saturday’s game against Brighton was – as it has been with many games this season – it could really have gone either way. A yard here and there, and we’re one up, the referee deciding to make Brighton retake a corner due to a clear push, or deciding a cynical foul was worthy of a second yellow… those moments matter, and they didn’t go our way on Saturday.
That’s not to say we couldn’t have been better; we absolutely could have, and I was thankful we weren’t a goal or two down in the first half, before we came back into it and really should have taken the lead; however, we must have some perspective here.
Wide areas have been an area of huge promise and also a huge weakness for us at different times this season, and we were without Reinildo, Mukiele, Traoré, Le Fée, Mundle, Ta Bi and Angulo this weekend – four of those seven would likely start in wide positions if everyone was fit.
Add to that the injury to Roefs, Ballard having to go off, the obvious fitness issues Xhaka’s dealing with and Brobbey just getting back to fitness and there’s a bit of leeway that’s warranted.
In fact, as a collective, we need to give this squad a bit of leeway in general – they’ve had an excellent season overall, and this period now, when we’re all but safe (I’m not saying it definitively until it’s mathematically impossible by the way), needs to be something of a runway into next season.
And that goes just as much for us as supporters – whether you’re in the ground or watching from afar, talking in the pub or having the crack online. Because it’s easy to support in all of those ways when things are going well in terms of results.
The real test – as we’ve known and proven over the past decade – is when things aren’t going so well.
And in context, a narrow Premier League home defeat that leaves us mid-table, on 40 points with seven left to play, isn’t a huge ‘down’. Especially given we’ve got 11 points in our last 11 games – certainly not championship form, but not relegation cert form either, despite what some would have you believe/
So it’s important our reaction to a spell of form that’s not as good as what came before doesn’t turn into something it’s not.
It’s important that we don’t turn it into something it’s not.
Yes, there’s areas for improvement – everyone knows that, Le Bris better than anyone. We need to be better at set pieces. We need to score more goals from open play; that’s stating the bleeding obvious. But that doesn’t negate all of the good things in our play too; the defensive solidity that’s usually there, the grit and fight, and the tacical nous particularly in away games.
The club are improving off the pitch too – Legends’ Way will be fantastic and I can’t wait to see the Welcome To Sunderland sign once more, towering over Monty and Bob Stokoe.
As a collective, we need to step up too. The club, the manager, and the players have all earned our trust, they’ve all earned the right to be supported, and that’s where we – whether in the ground or online – need to come in.
Xhaka looked frustrated as some fans once again left the ground early on Saturday with a decent chunk left to play (Til The End?), while make no mistake about it, players read what’s said about them online.
In many respects, therefore, it’s good we’ve got the derby game this weekend as it takes the focus off a lot of stuff that would rumble on ahead of a run-of-the-mill game.
We need to improve in a few aspects, on the field and off the field, because we all want to win, we’re all in it together, and we need to show that definitively between now and the end of the season.
So that run starts on Sunday, and it’s essential we’re all pulling in the right direction for that one. Context and perspective don’t automatically come easily for us as football supporters, but we’ve got to take a beat and see the bigger picture here – because while there’s obvious areas of improvement in the short term, in the longer term there’s so, so much good happening.
Let’s not risk that.
