Anthony Gair says…
A reminder of our situation
We all know I’m a bit daft when it comes to the Lads, but before the game I’d have told you that we were going to win the league and that I was about to book some random European hotels in hope we play against Viktoria Plzen or Legia Warsaw next season.
This — although I’m not sure whether it’s an ‘up’ or a ‘down’ — has brought me back down to Earth and given me a hugely needed reminder that we’re probably in a relegation battle.
Sunderland’s new kit — thumbs up!
It’s absolutely stunning and if you disagree, I don’t care.
Dan Ballard’s injury
It was quite
obvious that big Dan’s injury shook up the team and I’d imagine this will pick up efforts in bringing in Jhon Lucumi as soon as physically possible now.
Who’d have thought that Ballard, who didn’t start many games when Luke O’Nien and Chris Mepham were fit, has now become the best defender we’ve ever had? I hope it’s nothing too bad and that he’s back for the next one.
A lack of tempo
We struggled for any kind of fluency through this one; every time we tried to pass the ball a bit faster, they got at us and whenever we played it forward, we misplaced it.
It was all a bit rushed and lacked a lot of urgency.
We’re allowed to lose games but we have to learn from these games that we lose, or we’ll find ourselves in the battle before we know it.
Calum Mills says…
Chemsdine Talbi impresses
Talbi was the most threatening of our attacking trio.
I loved seeing him pop up on the left wing and offering an avenue, and had he cut across his clipped shot better, he may have had his first Sunderland goal. It’s not just his attacking attributes I’m excited about, but his willingness to track back or across the midfield to defend.
He clearly understands the task at hand this season and his willingness to do the dirty work could be vital in the run in at the end of the season.
Vital lessons learned
The contrast in playing styles between the two teams from the Championship and Premier League is astounding.
Last season, Burnley looked to dominate the ball and be the resolute defensive unit out of possession, but this time, I felt it was the complete opposite. For large parts of the game, we were the dominant force against a low block, so is this down to recruitment and opponents fearing our line up? I think so.
For the last thirty minutes of the game, they sat in with a very flat defensive line. Annoyingly, we couldn’t break it down and they in fact pulled off a ‘Sunderland’ by hitting us on the break and scoring.
Dan Ballard’s exit
The loss of Ballard in the first half again disrupted our back line — except this time, Omar Alderete was already on the pitch and Jenson Seelt was the man entering the fray.
I do like Seelt and I think he has what it takes to become a top quality defender, but he was very weak with the first goal.
Dropping to your knee to block the shot with the man ten yards off you was poor. Had Ballard been on the pitch, I think he throws his body in the way of the shot.
Some poor Sunderland crossing
I was annoyed by some poor crossing from deep.
Granit Xhaka and Trai Hume put several poor balls into the box that evaded everyone. Precision in this league goes a long way and despite the two clear cut chances in the first half, the second half chances were from hopeful balls into the box.
Lee Morrison says…
Positive substitute contributions
Although he initially struggled to get onto the ball, Patrick Roberts grew into the game and was able to move us further up the pitch.
It was reassuring to see that they can meet the intended purpose on what was a disappointing afternoon.
It’s only game week two!
After an eight-year hiatus and such an amazing first home game, it’s natural to get carried away, but this result has solidified just how competitive the season is going to be.
It’s only taken two weeks for all promoted teams this season to win their first game, and Brentford, who we think will be with us in the thick of it, also got a fantastic result against Aston Villa.
When the dust settles, we’ll have learned from the loss and can hopefully bounce back against Brentford.
Defensive frailties and fitness concerns
Unfortunately, the past two weeks have acted as a bit of a microcosm for what we see with Dan Ballard.
When he’s fit, he’s a Premier League-quality centre back who also poses a goal threat. However, he’s injury prone. Hopefully, the groin injury isn’t too severe but it’s also a sign that we could do with that final piece of the defensive puzzle with regard to transfers.
Omar Alderete was superb when called upon last week. However, in an ideal world, you can see that he would benefit from some more time for fitness and that we’re asking quite a lot for ninety-minute performances at this early stage.
Again, though, I’m sure he’ll improve.
Clinical finishing needed!
I think all promoted teams are in the same boat in the sense that we’re all looking for that elusive striker who will take any chance that comes his way.
Although I was delighted with how Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda took their chances last week, this game showed how you can be punished if you don’t take the chance that come your way. I’m certain that Mayenda will learn more from this game and hopefully we’ll see him on the scoresheet next week.
With Isidor, the way that Burnley defended negated his preferred playing style and he struggled to make an impact. Again, I’m certain that he’ll convert chances that come his way.
Malc Dugdale says…
Some decent early chances
We created a couple of early opportunities which we really should’ve converted, and if we had, that may have changed the whole game.
Whilst we didn’t score, the fact we created 2-3 clear cut chances has to be recognised.
If Eliezer Mayenda had his shooting boots from last week and Chemsdine Talbi curled it the other way, we were 2-0 up. Unlucky early on, really.
A reality check
It would be easy to look at the West Ham game and think “we’re going to walk this season”, and I genuinely think taking a narrow defeat like that will help us.
It reminds us all that we aren’t the finished article, that we may need more players in the coming two weeks, and there’ll be games that a couple of moments of quality stop you getting anything — which was the case yesterday. They took chances we didn’t it was a simple as that.
Complacency is banished if it existed — we learn from this and move on.
An injury scare for Dan Ballard
Hopefully Ballard isn’t too badly hurt but the loss of the big lad is a big blow.
Jenson Seelt did OK and Omar Alderete will get better every game — as will the other newer defensive additions, — but the strength at both ends will be a big miss.
Hopefully a minor issue and he can be back soon.
Peaks and troughs
All the lads who did well last time out seemed to struggle today, and We can’t have that many players have a dip in performance and output and expect anything else.
Granit Xhaka wasn’t on it, Habib Diarra was pretty quiet, Simon Adingra seemed to cut in for every run he made, and Eliezer Mayenda missed a chance way easier than many he’s scored.
A bad day at the office and something we can hopefully rectify quickly, with the cup game and another home game against Brentford to come in the next week.
Nic Wiseman says…
A close-run affair
The stats said the game was even and the commentary said the same.
Burnley defended like it was a Championship game and got two goals. It’s frustrating but no one said this was going to be easy.
I was convinced we’d win this given that we bossed them in January and think we’ve improved while they’ve regressed, but they edged a close game, so a good lesson to learn early on.
A harsh if necessary experience?
Got to get this lesson out of the way early on.
We might expect our fellow promoted teams to be the easiest prey, but maybe familiarity breeds contempt.
Sunderland run out of steam
The tiredness of Omar Alderete and the other newcomers was a concern, especially for a team who make hard work a thing.
Hopefully it’s just a case of building fitness.
Come back soon, Dan!
The loss of Ballard was a big issue given his contribution in his last four games.
Let’s hope it’s not for long and why the club are right to be looking for more cover.
