Ciaran McKenna says…
Sunderland end their Stateside trip on a positive note
Another good test to round up our US tour and finally one where we are on the right side of the result.
We controlled the game well and looked sharper both in and out of possession, with some nice passing moves creating chances and space. Promising signs all over.
Brian Brobbey makes his mark
Brobbey was terrific — of course, up against lesser opposition, but you can’t take that away from him.
Lars Knutsen says…
A good run out
A competitive match with the back four doing well.
Wrexham had a goal disallowed after we went ahead and it was an outstanding flick from
Brobbey for Mukiele to score. He took his goal really well, no complaints there.
Sunderland deal with the absence of key players
Overall, we didn’t miss the creative input of Enzo Le Fée and Granit Xhaka as much as I expected.
The midfield combinations did surprisingly well, and I reckon Régis Le Bris will be happy…we won?
Question marks over several fringe players?
We made a lot of changes on sixty three minutes and later in the game.
I can see the point of blooding the academy boys such as Tom Proctor and Jack Whitaker, as we may need some of them for the Europa League squad as UK-based youth products.
However, why persist with Jenson Seelt, Alan Browne and Leo Hjelde, unless Le Bris knows something we don’t? These three players looked confident and played quite well, despite everything.
We’ll learn more once we’ve completed our summer transfer activity and announce our European squad.
Seeing Parky’s face
Phil Parkinson managed us during COVID and brought a lot of misery during a rough low point for our club.
He was interviewed on a big screen and made me happy that we had won, but a little PTSD emerged.
My personal verdict…
A decent game, given the number of absentees and it was a solid performance from the Lads.
The atmosphere with a lot of showbiz Wrexham fans in the 16,000 crowd brought out the fighting instincts in our team. Luke O’Nien was outstanding and I was happy to see Le Fée jogging around with one of our coaches after the game.
Lee Morrison says…
Sunderland show some encouraging sharpness
As we’ve seen with other Premier League teams against Championship opposition, the gap in quality hasn’t been as wide as some might think, with Championship teams at least a week ahead when it comes to pre-season preparation.
Being perfectly honest, I was expecting to see that difference in action, but this couldn’t have been further from the case as the Lads looked very sharp throughout and there was a clear difference in quality.
I don’t believe that results hold much influence in pre-season but it was brilliant to get a win.
More senior players return
It was superb to see Robin Roefs back in goal for us.
The World Cup creates an interesting challenge in terms of squad readiness as they return back to domestic football. However, like many others, I’ve been delighted with how Régis Le Bris has managed the minutes of key members of the squad and I’m looking forward to seeing how Roefs gets on in the next games before the season opener to Ipswich.
That’s without even mentioning the prospect of Granit Xhaka and Chemsdine Talbi returning, to name a couple!
League One PTSD strikes!
Whilst it’s clear to see that Phil Parkinson has done a brilliant job at Wrexham, saving them from footballing obscurity/oblivion, that doesn’t mean that I enjoy seeing his face.
Seeing Phil Parkinson on a touchline and George Dobson in the middle of the pitch is a brutal reminder of grim, grim times. Perhaps, if you find yourself in a position where you’re complaining about our midfield, take a second to remember just how horrendous it was only a few years ago…
Some notable absences
A key highlight of this pre-season campaign has been watching Enzo Le Fée and admiring the partnerships that he’s been developing, most notably with Chris Rigg.
It was disappointing to see that he’d picked up a knock and missed this game, but let’s hope it isn’t anything too serious and that he’ll be back in action shortly, as I feel that he’ll be playing a massive role this season.
Mark Ryan says…
Nordi catches the eye
Mukiele is so good on the right and the first half had me recanting my desire for him to play centre back.
Anthony Patterson gets some game time
It was nice to see Patto — possibly for one last time.
Hopefully he gets a good move for both himself and the club soon.
Romaine Mundle finds the going tough
Mundle again had a great opportunity and did nothing with it.
He’s getting a look and doing nothing with it.
And finally…
I would’ve loved to have seen some more goals on the trip, but that’s probably being too picky.
Wadey says…
Some good Sunderland attacking play
Really enjoyed some aggressive third man runs.
It happened a number of times and gave us Nordi Mukiele’s goal.
Anthony Patterson does his cause no harm!
Really pleased to see Patterson on in the second half — I did wonder if we’d ever see him again!
A tricky outing for Romaine Mundle
I was a bit disappointed with Mundle in the first half.
He didn’t really look threatening other than one ball into the box. Ángulo was far busier trying to beat his man when he came on.
Nordi Mukiele exits early
Mukiele looked as if he may be injured when he came off.
That would be a worry so hopefully he’s OK.
