Owen Sara says…
Jules Ahoka is key to this.
His energy and running power made a monumental difference against Chelsea and for a team that’s so well-drilled at playing on the counter, his incredibly unique attributes allowing him to carry the ball will be massive.
We saw a prime example of this against Brentford in the cup for the first goal and what’ll help is popping shots away within twenty five yards of goal.
We signed Granit Xhaka and he had a repertoire of long range worldies — yet almost in typical Sunderland
fashion, it’s almost like he’s forgotten how to do this.
He scored via a deflection against Everton last season but apart from that, he rarely ever shoots. Would playing Ahoka in the deeper midfield role allow Xhaka to play more as an eight, where he had his best spell for Arsenal?
Getting runners in and around Brian Brobbey will also be key.
The 3-0 thumping of Burnley last season showed how effective this can be with runners from midfield run into space left by Brobbey dropping deep. A couple of weeks’ worth of finishing practice in training would go along way to converting our dreaded XG into actual goals.
Malc Dugdale says…
For me, the difference between last season and this has been the defensive gifts we’ve been wrapping up and offering to opponents.
Against Chelsea, we were lucky that the tackle on Cole Palmer was a millimetre outside the box, but we defended like we know we can. This simply has to continue after the break for us to gather more momentum and climb the table.
Even comparative laymen like me can see when the defence is shaky, the midfield drops back to support, and this leaves Brian Brobbey — one of the best strikers in the division — holding the ball up for nobody to take it on. Isolating a lone striker doesn’t work.
We also need to find a way to get Omar Alderete and Kevin Danso’s confidence back as we can’t rely on Luke O’Nien and Nordi Mukiele for every game in the league, the cup, and Europe.
We need to nurture these as well as Dayann Methalie and others, get them back to a positive place through good showings in cup and Europa League games. They’re all good players but their mindsets are shot to bits given how their errors have been clinically punished the last month or so. But that’s what happens in the Premier League — that’s why it’s one of the best in the world.
If we can get the defence confident and reinforce the depth behind the two who did so well last weekend, the midfield can do its thing.
Jules Ahoka can keep ascending as a star of the future; the tens of millions’ worth of wingers Gav keeps mentioning on our podcasts can bomb on without looking over their shoulder for a cock up every two minutes (while knowing they do have a defensive job to do at times), and Brobbey and Wilson Isidor will get goals and will enable others to grab a few too.
Football is a very simple game, and I’m really happy Régis Le Bris went back to our basics and what we know we’re about against Chelsea.
We can’t allow that to be a one-off display, and making that a spell of results rather than a brief peak in one game, we simply have to rebuild from the back, and make sure our squad doesn’t reduce through poor performances removing options we have invested in.
Phil West says…
First and foremost, by making better use of the millions and millions of pounds’ worth of wingers we have on the books yet haven’t properly utilised this season. Fundamentally, we’ll be in a better place by getting ‘harder, better, faster, stronger’, as that Daft Punk song goes, and I mean that on both a mental and physical level, with Sunday’s victory over Chelsea surely marking the turning point.
Let’s get this right: Malick Fofana, Chemsdine Talbi and Nilson Angulo should be enough to spark any attack into life, and I’m eager to see them playing on the front foot to a greater degree; with confidence, purpose and the willingness to take on their man and whip balls into dangerous areas or even taking shots themselves.
Fofana in particular came here with a stellar reputation.
I want to see him start to deliver as a result of Régis Le Bris giving him greater licence to play the kind of game that worked so well on the continent. Talbi is a workhorse with an eye for a big goal and Angulo is lively if somewhat erratic at times, so if we can harness their best attributes and begin to rediscover the lost art of positive wing play, we’re on the right track.
We also need to ensure that Brian Brobbey — who’s often been so isolated this season that he might as well have pitched a tent on the North Atlantic islet of Rockall and spent his spare time serenading the local seabirds — isn’t isolated any longer by getting runners in and around him to benefit from his hold up play and ability to carve a path through opposition defences.
What we occasionally lose in ‘natural finishing ability’ with the Dutchman, we gain in his ability to lead the line and keep opposing defenders on their toes via his incredible strength and “take no shit” approach.
With greater support and his teammates making sharp, incisive runs and being on hand to mop up any loose balls that may drop for them (Jules Ahoka as a rampaging presence in and around the box, anyone?), we can make best use of Brobbey’s unique skillset.
Also, with a more reliable supply line and a touch more sharpness at times, I do think Brobbey has the ability to become a semi-regular goalscorer, but he’s only as effective as the service and support allows him to be, so it needs to be pieced together if we want to become a more potent side in front of goal.
Tom Albrighton says…
For me, the focus is simply on making sure Sunday wasn’t yet another false dawn by doubling down on the training ground and driving the basics back into this side.
What we all saw on Sunday was a side for more akin to that which we saw last season and it’s the type of football that should now be non-negotiable.
The more vertical and direct style suits us so much better as a collective as well as the individuals so sticking to it, grinding it in and then building slowly from those foundations is key.
That doesn’t mean to say all hopes of football should be abandoned — we even saw at Chelsea our willingness to play through them when the chances allowed but by being pragmatic and aggressive we allowed ourselves to get far higher up the pitch where when mistakes are made, they’re less terminal than making them on the edge of your own area.
Adding a bit of variety would also not go amiss with Granit Xhaka and Habib Diarra out for a period of time as well as question marks surrounding the fitness of Brian Brobbey, so having other tactical options and formations good to go wouldn’t be a bad thing.
As far as goals go? Well, that’s the million-dollar question but remaining true to style and allowing our wingers more opportunities to affect the game won’t be a negative.
With this one, it’s just a case of patience and my gut feeling is when the results start to come, the confidence will flow again and those goals will look five yards wider and five yards higher than they do right now.
