Ben McKevitt says…
I’d return to the tried and trusted back four that we’vd found so much success with under Régis Le Bris. That change brings with it a number of areas for discussion across all areas of the pitch — especially off the back of a rare defeat in the capital.
In defence, Omar Alderete would come back in as left-sided centre half, with Nordi Mukiele moving out to right back and Dan Ballard and Reinildo rounding out the four. It would therefore be Trai Hume and Lutsharel Geertruida losing their places which
may seem undeserved but I feel that’s justifiable for the balance of the team and to get maximum quality on the pitch.
In midfield, I’d like to see Enzo Le Fée brought in just in front of Noah Sadiki and Granit Xhaka.
We’re sorely lacking creativity at the moment and in order to take the game to Bournemouth, we’ll have to make changes to remedy that. Le Fée has as much invention in his play as anybody in the squad and I feel like he could make the difference in the middle.
The wings are another hotbed of debate at the moment and another area where I’d be making changes. Chemsdine Talbi starting from the left is something a lot of fans have been keen to see after impressive substitute appearances, and I’d have him there in place of the Le Fee.
For this game, I think I’d stick with Bertrand Traoré on the right due to his work rate and recent improved performances. Eliezer Mayenda could be a very viable option here, however, as his pace and directness could cause an often missing threat from the wing.
Overall, the two wingers helping out their respective full backs will be crucial if we’re to play a back four against a team as good as Bournemouth, and so having Talbi and Traore in those positions would be the best insurance for me.
This also grants us a nice balance of having dominant-footed full backs on either flank, giving our wingers options to cut in on their own stronger foot or play the overlap.
John Wilson says…
It’s difficult to get inside the head of Régis Le Bris as we all trust him and he deserves much credit for all that’s happened since his arrival.
However, I do feel there’s been a slight shift in people’s opinion of him.
This season, he’s gained a reputation for being “ruthless” and tinkering when needs be, but to be contentious, I’m not so confident in fully buying into this idea. Last season and at Lorient, he had a reputation for being stubborn and not wanting to change his starting eleven much — and I’m slightly leaning towards the idea that this is generally still the case.
He doesn’t changing the team very much and when looking at the recent starting eleven, you couldn’t tell what the formation might’ve been, as a back five can very quickly and fluently become a back four or even a back three. For example, Trai Hume has found himself in midfield when we have the ball, so I try not to get too caught up with formations.
That said, I’d be tempted to adopt a back four of Nordi Mukiele, Dan Ballard, Omar Alderete and Reinildo, with a midfield and forwards of Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki, Enzo Le Fée, Bertrand Traoré and Chemsdine Talbi, with Wilson Isidor starting up front.
It’s all very fluid, and my starting eleven is always chosen with “finishers” in mind.
I’d also bring Brian Brobbey on for at least twenty minutes, as well as introducing Chris Rigg and Romaine Mundle, but I’d certainly expect a more aggressive attitude and to be more attack-minded.
Malc Dugdale says…
While the loss away to Fulham was a disappointment, it was against a team who’ve been very strong at home all season.
With Fulham playing better than many expected and Sunderland not really clicking or getting into more than second gear, we probably deserved to get little from the match for many reasons. Is that a trigger for major changes for our next game? I’m not so sure, but one thing that didn’t work was our formation at Craven Cottage.
The back five was one of the major factors and while being solid at the back is key playing a team in good form at home, it starved us from any real advancement through midfield — especially once we went behind. Why we didn’t change shape when the substitutes came on at around sixty five minutes was beyond me too, but it was a rare blip in our coaching team’s prowess, which I’m sure will be rectified without delay.
I fully expect Régis Le Bris to change shape for this game — probably to a back four — and I’m very hopeful this will be a catalyst for a fast start to bounce back from that narrow away defeat.
Fair play to Fulham, as they often forced errors from us and at other times we sadly made mistakes with little real pressure, so we may not have done super well with an extra man in the middle anyway.
I’m not sure if I would change any of the players, as the shape caused more of the problems than any individuals, and players like Bertrand Traoré were better at Fulham than I’ve seen before, which we should recognise and reward.
Keep the bulk of the eleven — maybe with a little tweak to keep Bournemouth guessing. Get back to a back four, and let’s get into this lot and get back to winning games.
Bournemouth will be no pushovers but we can take these and regain momentum at our first opportunity.
Tom Albrighton says…
For me, it’s just minor tweaks that are needed going forward, but these are also tweaks that’ll be negated by the upcoming fixtures.
I’m not completely sold on the back five that’s been in place in recent weeks, as although it yielded positive results against Arsenal and Chelsea, it also led to less satisfying results in games versus Fulham and Everton.
For me, the solution is a fairly basic one: a switch to a back four, which would allow for rotation as the season enters its busiest period.
A hallmark of Sunderland’s season so far — alongside our incredible desire and physicality — is that we’ve been one of the most adaptable sides in the division, and that’s highlighted more so by the notion we could do this with minimal disruption to personnel.
Moving to a back four would also allow Régis Le Bris to refocus players on their strengths and negate their weaknesses.
As an example, Trai Hume looks far more assured at right back than in his hybrid/half-back role, which also allows him to tap into his attacking ability — particularly surrounding his insatiable appetite to overlap and widening out what’s occasionally become a narrow attacking pattern that’s been left-side weighted.
A back four would also allow us options further up the pitch, with an option to play either an extra striker, Enzo Le Fée in a more centralised attacking role or even Lutsharel Geertruida in a defensive midfield role to help ease the burden placed upon Noah Sadiki and Granit Xhaka, who’ve been documented as covering vast amounts of ground already this season — something even the most robust of characters will struggle to manage over the course of a season.
The final tweak would be like-for-like changes in order to keep things fresh and offer opportunities to those in a squad about to be upset by AFCON.
The likes of Bertrand Traoré have offered very little in terms of end product and are perhaps overdue rotation in favour of Chemsdine Talbi or Eliezer Mayenda — who’ve both contributed goals this season — as well as allowing for rotation in defence to keep the likes of Nordi Mukiele firing on all cylinders after looking notably tired in the latter stages at Fulham.
All of this is caveated by the fact that against the top teams, a back five set in a low block had yielded results so far, so these changes would ideally be done on an ad-hoc basis, such is the fluidity and quality within Sunderland’s squad — ultimately rendering this particular rambling somewhat moot.
