A extremely mixed display from the Lads
This is a very weird one to judge as I think a lot of the fundamentals that we want from the team were there, especially in the first half.
We controlled the ball reasonably well, our triangles were quite good and we fashioned some early chances which we unfortunately couldn’t convert.
On the other hand, I thought the defence was dreadful with the exception of Robin Roefs and Thomas Meunier — something I’ll touch on later — and the second half saw a sizeable drop off in quality, endeavour and chance
creation, with sloppiness taking its place in many areas.
Brian Brobbey was getting in the right areas but for me, he should be scoring at least one, especially as he could’ve dropped off his second big opportunity for somebody else to place into an open goal — symptomatic of a general lack of sharpness in the final third.
We held the ball for extended periods but never looked threatening, and I don’t think it’s a total coincidence that our goal came from a direct free kick rather than some incisive open play. It was the first game of the season, so rust will be there, but I was disappointed in our second half showing.
Hopefully we can use this to get us going when we host Fulham next week.
Defensive lapses cost Sunderland big time
As I touched on earlier, I can’t sugarcoat it: I think we were very poor at the back and most of the lads put in disappointing performances which were crystallised by the two Ipswich goals.
Omar Alderete and Luke O’Nien were at the heart of their goals, gifting them simple chances for both which they dispatched with relative ease – the winner being a particular lowlight as it came at the hands of former Sunderland talisman Jack Clarke.
It puts a particular highlight on our depth at the back.
Left centre back is a position that we’ve identified all summer as a position to strengthen, and it’s this position that cost us the most yesterday. Obligatory disclaimer that I, like many others, love O’Nien but we came into the first game of the season with him at the back due to injuries, and his capacity for mistakes cost us yesterday, unfortunately.
It was such a poor performance that Régis Le Bris adjudged it necessary to hook him to be replaced by a half-fit Omar Alderete, and his contribution wasn’t any better.
Between them, they made three massive errors, which are always going to be punished even by a newly promoted club. To me, it shows that we’re in need of further options in that role, and I hope we can add an Alderete understudy sooner rather than later.
To be fair, Dan Ballard and Reinildo weren’t much better in their respective roles, which shows that it was a bad day all round for our defence.
Ballard was uncharacteristically exposed for his lack of pace, and he had his hands full with Ipswich new boy, Emersonn, who more than matched up to him aerially. As for Reinildo and our left side, I’m not sure I’ve seen Sunderland opened up so easily since Rayan Cherki dazzled us last season — Julio Enciso completely dominated down his wing and carved out opportunities seemingly at will at times.
On a day where I think our defence was very poor, Thomas Meunier stood out as a highlight on his league debut.
He was very bright down the right wing, operating with the kind of calmness and decisiveness you’d expect from somebody with his experience but the endurance and gusto of a much younger player. He seems to be a very shrewd operator and filled in well for Nordi Mukiele.
Sunderland’s midfield offers cause for optimism
Although I was very disappointed with the performance at the back, if we got a point yesterday, it would’ve been down to the midfield.
Granit Xhaka, Enzo Le Fée and Noah Sadiki were all good to varying degrees, with Sadiki being the pick of the bunch, especially in the first half. Xhaka did well controlling the ball and dictating the pace; Le Fée was popping up in nice pockets and knitting play together quite well, and Sadiki was just everywhere, as always.
The pace dropped after the break and we looked a bit lost for ideas at points when picking the ball up in promising central areas, but I was happy to see that our three key men in the middle were up to speed, if not at their best in totality.
Xhaka won’t be happy with the performance as a whole, though, and I’m sure the captain will be driving the standards going into next week.
Squad selection…food for thought?
For me, the two most eye-catching decisions when the team sheet was announced were Nilson Angulo on the left and Meunier at full back. We touched on Meunier’s contributions earlier, so I’d like to focus on Angulo’s performance overall and the subs’ impacts.
If I’m honest, I thought Angulo was very poor outside of his incredible free kick. That may seem strange when considering how fantastic his goal was, but I think it’s fair.
Almost every touch got away from him, his decision making was questionable and he was beaten by his man continuously at the back, which played no small part in Ipswich’s ability to hurt us down our left flank.
It’s been said before that he has the raw attributes to succeed in the league, but we’ll need better from both him and his replacement Chemsdine Talbi, if want to push on and grab more goals this season.
That brings me onto the substitutes, which I thought were broadly good in theory but disappointingly ineffective in their execution.
Talbi struggled to make an impression; Chris Rigg had precious few moments to impact the game as we know he can, and Habib Diarra didn’t carry much threat after his introduction. It’s great that we have these lads to bring on as they all have quality, but I was hoping for more as we pushed for a winner.
Ipswich show some promising signs
Finally, a note on Ipswich.
I was quite impressed with how incisive and cutting they were on the break and they demonstrated that they could have enough to challenge in this league, albeit with the caveat that we gifted them their goals. It’s no coincidence that their threat largely diminished once Julio Enciso was forced off the pitch through injury, as he was a huge threat all day — a great acquisition on their part.
We played a team that was buoyant and playing their first Premier League home game, so we knew it could be a difficult day.
The manner of the defeat was very frustrating but I think Ipswich earned their points across the ninety minutes, and a point apiece would’ve been about the maximum we’d have earned.
