Sunderland have won twice at Old Trafford in the last sixty years and despite high hopes that we could cause some trouble last weekend, we fell short. Two goals in the first thirty minutes put the game to bed, but we did at least improve in the second half.
In previous years, a defeat at Manchester United would be a case of being “taught a footballing lesson” but this time, it didn’t feel like a “Welcome to the Premier League” kind of trip to Manchester and in all honesty, I think more than a few
Sunderland fans were annoyed at not coming away with something.
Trips to Old Trafford in the Sir Alex Ferguson years were often a write-off before we’d even stepped off the team bus in Manchester. Long periods of being up against it and the odd dubious refereeing decision would usually quickly stamp out any hopes of a good trip.
However, this is a different United team and although we went there with renewed hope, they showed us that they still have plenty of quality to punish sides who switch off — and switch off is what we did on two occasions.
In an ideal world, we would’ve reached the thirty to forty-minute mark at 0-0, by which point United may have become frustrated. There’s no perfect time to concede but conceding inside ten minutes of a game where you’re anticipating not having much of the ball is far from ideal.
We had our chances, and we failed to take any of them. It was heartening to see us create opportunities, but frustrating that we couldn’t at least come away from Manchester with a goal. You can get away with not being clinical every week in the Championship but if you make a habit of it in the Premier League, you’ll get found out.
Régis Le Bris mixed things up for the game and quickly changed it back when it was clear United were all over us. They say that you learn more from your defeats than you do from victories, and Le Bris is always keen to learn and develop. By the time the Wolves game comes around, we’ll be ready to go and the bones of Saturday’s 2-0 loss will have been picked clean.
We’ve got thirty one cup finals left between now and May and in each one, we need to back this team with every kick, shot, save and tackle. The current group are gelling together and eleven points from seven games is highly impressive for a newly-promoted side that hasn’t graced the top flight in nearly a decade.
What we don’t need are fans going on social media and lying to players who’ve played merely minutes in a Sunderland shirt. This attitude stinks and will do nothing towards helping us stay in this division.
The players read what fans say about them.
There’s no question about that and players who have moved to a new country to be here deserve our support. Every new signing has earned a clean slate by coming here, so back these lads all you can in the weeks and months that are ahead, because if not, what would’ve been the point in backing the club on our rise to the Premier League?
