On Saturday, Sunderland were taught a lesson on how you cannot underestimate any opponent in the Premier League – but, also, that sometimes by showing a side too much respect, you can fall flat on your
face.
Fulham, despite being on an awful run of form before last weekend, have only lost once at home so far this season, so are clearly a decent outfit. Yet, given our own great start to the season, I didn’t think it was unreasonable to predict going into the game that we might come away with three points.
To be honest, had we actually shown up, I think we might have stood a chance, but it was all very easy for the home side, and whilst they left it late to get their winning goal, the truth is that a better side would probably have punished us a lot sooner.
Sunderland were probably the sloppiest they’ve been all season and just couldn’t get going. Sure, it wasn’t all our own doing — I thought Darren England’s officiating of the game was incredibly poor, and the weather conditions meant it was never going to be a fantastic game of football to watch — but we can have no complaints about coming away with nothing, as we just weren’t at it and weren’t good enough.
We had some brief moments of quality, but in the main, we weren’t great, and you probably wouldn’t have been surprised when turning on your TV on Saturday night to see that Fulham vs Sunderland was last on Match of the Day. I doubt anyone will be going back to watch this one again, as it certainly wasn’t a classic!
Why were we so poor? I think tactically we got it wrong, and I haven’t been able to say that very often this season. Five at the back didn’t make sense to me before the game, and even when it was apparent during it that it wasn’t working, we left it far too late to change things up. I think if we’d been proactive and made some changes at half time, that we might actually have kicked into gear, but it all felt a bit too little, too late, and in the end, Fulham were the ones who were rewarded for their persistence and for making good substitutions.
These things happen, and whilst for most of this season it’s felt like a dream, we’re going to have the odd day where nothing goes right for us. It happens to the best of them – just look at the result at Anfield this past weekend, where Liverpool were trounced by Nottingham Forest. There are lots of good teams at this level, and if you’re not at it, you will be made to pay.
We can’t think too much about Fulham now – we have to look positively at the next one, as another tough test awaits us on Saturday when Bournemouth visit the Stadium of Light.
Nothing can be gained from clinging on to any lingering negativity from our trip to Craven Cottage, particularly with trips to Liverpool and Manchester City following this one.
I don’t particularly fear Bournemouth, even though they’ve had an unbelievable season under a manager who has done a superb job there. That’s because of the confidence I’ve gained from watching the Lads at the Stadium of Light this season — they couldn’t really have done much more. Teams are now coming to our place, looking over their shoulders. Gone are the days when teams turned up on Wearside knowing we were a soft touch that could be easily beaten… we’re rightly seen as one of the strongest home sides in the division.
The Cherries are a side that can beat anyone, but they have injuries to key players, and we simply have to take confidence from that and take advantage. I know they have their own goals this season and are likely targeting a top six finish, something they’re more than capable of, but we’ve done pretty well in games against the top teams this season and we shouldn’t be scared of being bold and going for it.
People will rightly be looking for a reaction after the disappointment we all felt after Fulham, and I think with a leader like Granit Xhaka in the side, we can be confident that the Lads have been sharp and on it in training this week. That doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll win at the weekend, but I think all our fans want to see is a team that fights until the end. It’s become a hallmark of this side in 2025, and as we head towards the tail end of it, the ideals that we live and die by must not change — if Bournemouth somehow manage to leave Wearside with points in tow, we need to be absolutely sure that we couldn’t have done much more.
The league table is starting to look tight, and with two tough away trips to follow, another successful home performance will give us a little bit of room to breathe.
All of a sudden, this feels like a huge game – but we have to relish it. The Premier League is the best league in the world, and every single game is a challenge… just look at what happened to us at Fulham for proof!
