What was arguably the biggest game in world football on Saturday wasn’t even Sunderland’s biggest game in the next seven days.
Imagine saying that five years ago.
Régis Le Bris described the 90 minutes on Saturday evening as “frustrating”. There’s no doubt this was not because of his displeasure at the quality of the performance, but because the key moments in the game didn’t go Sunderland’s way. It was, in many aspects, an improved showing from last year’s gutsy 2-2 draw. At no point, for example,
did Arsenal pin them back as they did last time at the Stadium of Light. The save from Enzo Le Fée was only David Raya’s second in the Premier League from the spot. Without that, Bruno Guimarães doesn’t stick an absolute beauty into the top corner. There’s no doubt about it; it was a magnificent strike – but one that more often than not doesn’t end up in the back of the net. These are the small margins our results can live or die by.
It was just a pity for the barcodes he didn’t perform like that in a black-and-white shirt at the Stadium of Light, when he – alongside his colleagues – had a heart the size of a school lunch tinned pea.
Sunderland should take almost, but not quite universal, positives away from the performance against the league’s leading side. Was it deserved? No. Could it have turned out very differently? Yes. Crucially, can they improve? Absolutely. “We were close,” Le Bris said. He wasn’t wrong.
Grit, guile, togetherness, organisation. It all bodes well for the remainder of the season. The key factor now is whether they can replicate this performance when coming up against sides which do not possess Arsenal’s quality – i.e. Sunderland’s 18 other opponents in the league this season.
It could have been so different. The Raya penalty save was the dictionary definition of a sliding-doors moment. As an aside, it was a penalty. We should take time to remember that Arsenal’s behaviour from set plays last term has led directly to the rules being tightened around holding. So for Mikel Arteta to complain when it was enforced against them was mightily rich. Of course, it wasn’t that the Spaniard truly believed what was coming out of his mouth, but an attempt at pseudo-psychology in order to limit his side’s undoubted losses in this area as the season progresses. He wants to make referees think twice about sanctioning this sort of physicality – Howard Webb and his merry band of men in black would be wise to sidestep this pantomime nonsense.
Each player on the pitch had his own defined role. Régis Le Bris is The Scientist, and he knows exactly what each man must do in order to play to their strengths. Take Brian Brobbey as a case in point; the Dutchman will have woken up this morning feeling like he’d spent the night in a particle accelerator. A worry all managers have is: will their sides eventually be worked out? But no amount of homework or preparation will enable you to negate his physicality. You either have it, or you don’t. The only hope for a defender is, to paraphrase the late Hulk Hogan, to say your prayers and take your vitamins – and hope for the best.
Meanwhile, at the back, Dan Ballard has seamlessly stepped up to the Premier League as if he was born to play here. A takeaway from last season this may be, but now he’s back to full fitness, he looks at his dominant best. His willingness to stick his body anywhere required is admirable; he would insert himself in cavity wall insulation if asked. It should also be noted he formed a very promising partnership alongside home debutant Kevin Danso.
As for the rest, the lived experience of players in our side having played hundreds of games for teams like PSG, Bayern, Leverkusen and Atlético Madrid at the highest level means, in many ways, this performance was of no surprise.
There remain two areas for improvement. Firstly, Sunderland need to be more clinical. However, this is an important step up from needing to be creative, which they clearly are. There were chances yesterday, and you suspect if this had been Brentford or Brighton, they may have put Arsenal to the sword (we shall see, as The Gunners are on the south coast next up). But they were up against the league’s best defence, and arguably the world’s best goalkeeper. When you get those chances, you know what you have to do.
Secondly, the dark arts. The consensus from the crowd was that Sunderland had Arsenal rattled for 80 minutes. But in the final ten, they were drawn into their opponents’ game and paid as a consequence. Tactical game management is one thing; psychological game management is another. Brobbey’s push, and the touchline coming together after that, was good to see from a commitment point of view, but didn’t help them get back in the game.
Enzo Maresca will be looking at this game with interest – there’s no doubt his side will be in for a tough examination at the Etihad next weekend.
But first, Europe awaits.
