When Nordi Mukiele screamed at the crowd after a strong tackle, even though Sunderland had just gone down to 10 men, I had a feeling we’d not lose on Sunday. That tackle was one of a man full of confidence,
and it said that Sunderland would not roll over and die like so many other newly promoted clubs would do in the same position. Trai Hume has been in the spotlight for leaving his calling card on Morgan Rogers, who then took to social media to complain about SAFC sharing an example of a dangerous tackle. Hume got the ball and the man, and none of the referee, VAR, or most of the Villa players seemed to think it was as dangerous as Rogers claimed.
This is what Hume does, and although he will need to be wary of making tackles like this against some quick opponents this year, he loves getting stuck in, and with how tackling has been watered down in recent years, there will be a lot of players (like Rogers) who are not used to it.
The 1-1 draw on Sunday also showed how we had a good side up against the ball through throw-ins and set pieces. I can’t remember the last time Sunderland dominated a team aerially at dead balls, yet every time we put the ball anywhere near the six-yard box, Villa looked terrified. Mind you, we’d all be worried if we had Big Dan Ballard, Alderete, and Mukiele steaming in at us, wouldn’t we?
Aston Villa might have dominated with the ball, but a wall of red and white prevented them from creating anything substantial after scoring. In fact, Cash’s goal was their only shot on target after we were reduced to 10 men. A team playing Champions League football last season and Europa League football this year couldn’t get the job done against little old Sunderland, and it’s things like this that add to the pride we should have in this team.
It is a strong attitude like this that will set us up well this season, especially at home. Our next game at the SoL is against Wolves, a team who at the moment, are rock bottom of the league with no points. Making our home a fortress and a place where teams hate coming to visit. Seven points from our first three home games back in the Premier League is a fantastic start to making this reality.
In Sunderland players, I want passion, guile, and spirit. I want to see our lads first pumping every throw in and every corner. I want us to be a team that gets stuck in and scraps for every 50/50, loose ball, and header. I want to see players diving to make last ditch blocks and then celebrating like they’ve just scored a 30-yard screamer.
Every football fan should want this from their team, but with this current Sunderland team, it feels the closest we’ve got to experiencing this in a long time. We also want our team to perform as well as it can, and in five Premier League games, we’ve seen some very positive signs.
