After a poor result last Saturday, Sunderland had to wait over a week to put things right as they took centre stage against Burnley for the Monday Night Football special on transfer deadline day. With the window shutting just an hour before kick-off, Sunderland were able to name a side without any transfer speculation following the uncertainty that normally surrounds the day, with only the signing announcement of their new winger to come at the half-time interval.
Facing a Burnley side who had only
taken five points on the road this season and somewhat resigned themselves to relegation, how did Le Bris re-adjust to continued life without Xhaka to ensure that we preserved our unbeaten home record with a romping display against Burnley in what felt like the most uneventful 3-0 result in recent memory.
Sunderland Line-Up
With Xhaka expected to be side-lined for a further few weeks, Le Bris opted to tweak his system and return to his trusted 4-3-3 shape with a slight twist. Two changes were made from the side that were beaten rather comfortably by West Ham United as both Mayenda and Mundle made way for Chemsdine Talbi and Habib Diarra back into the starting line-up.
Le Bris switched around Hume and Diarra, giving the latter a more hybrid role between playing high and wide on the right whilst also dropping into the middle in order to form a more compact asymmetrical shape off the ball. Given Burnley look to play with a compact 5-4-1 system away from home, Hume was able to drop deeper and match the shape of the visitors in the few times they ventured forward during the match.
Le Bris has mastered the positional rotations this season and through Hume, his side is now comfortable seamlessly switching between their in-possession and out-of-possession shapes which gives Sunderland a genuine positional flexibility to switch between their defensive low-block and their transitional direct counter-attacks with more purpose and speed.
Opposition Line-Up
Scott Parker was looking to continue on from last weekend where a stoppage-time equaliser from Christian Romero meant that they were forced to share points with Spurs in a game which could’ve seen Burnley start to close the gap on their relegation rivals. With a trend of selecting a back five to play away from home, Parker made one change himself as Lyle Foster came in to replace Armando Broja.
Parker has been known for his ability to set sides up with a strong defensive identity in the Premier League; however, he has often failed to see the attacking side of their game match up to this. Burnley have struggled to create chances at Turf Moor this season however have scored more goals away from home with thirteen, doubling Sunderland’s away tally. Where they’ve been unable to turn those goals into points however has been in their defensive setup away from home having conceded 27 goals on the road, with their only win coming against Wolves and amounting to 1/4 of their away goals all season.
New Personnel, Same System
With Granit Xhaka missing for a few weeks longer, Sunderland were obviously going to need to adjust the way in which they play in order to plug the captain-sized hole found in their midfield. If we hark back to the initial stages of pre-season, Sunderland utilised a midfield trio of Noah Sadiki, Enzo Le Fée and Habib Diarra to an array of oohs and aahs looking very slick together therefore Le Bris has planned for life without Xhaka before.
With Diarra capable of covering ground on the right from his time playing in the 3-4-3 system utilised by Strasbourg but also comfortable making late runs from deep in order to link up with his centre-forward and get shots away from an attacking aspect. With Geertruida capable of marshalling the defence, Sunderland are still able to provide ample cover to allow Sadiki and Le Fée to act in their usual box-to-box capacity in front of him providing a strong counter-press and shape once Sunderland lose the ball.
As Burnley deployed a back five with four in midfield to provide a compact low-block, Sunderland were going to be provided with more of the ball than they’d normally like, as occurred in the reverse fixture back at Turf Moor in August. Sunderland allowed Burnley to control the possession in the opening minutes before the visitors quickly retreated back into their low-block shape and presented Sunderland with a proposition of breaking them down.
‘Like a New Signing’
Habib Diarra was straight into the thick of the action and after several quick interchanges of play, stamped his mark at the Stadium of Light. Following a slick interchange of passes down the right, Sunderland were able to bait the Burnley press before firing a ball into the feet of Brobbey; his fantastic backheel released a marauding Diarra who was able to drive into the box before finishing past Dubravka with the help of a wicked deflection.
Despite operating in a slightly unorthodox role, Diarra like Le Fée when on the opposite flank provides a unique skillset of having a central midfielder drifting wide but also being comfortable driving infield and playing passes due to their natural position. Not afraid of straying away from the touchline unlike a stereotypical winger, Diarra was able to get close to Brobbey for the opener and linked up the missing piece of Brobbey’s hold-up play in recent weeks.
With half an hour gone Sunderland found themselves out of sight thanks to that man again. In a sweeping move that saw Sunderland go from back to front and involved the second most passes in any goal we’ve scored this season, Hume released Le Fée who took three players out of the game with a superb touch, he then sprayed a weighted ball in behind to Mukiele who was able to cross into the path of Diarra who blasted past a wrong-footed Dubravka.
One of the strengths of Diarra’s game that we’ve missed dearly in the time he’s been away is in his ability to make surging runs into the box from deep to finish off moves. Against Burnley he displayed both aspects of this, showing he can either drive with the ball himself to create as he did again for Brobbey’s shot in the second half, or arrive late without the ball to box crash and get on the end of crosses. With 4/6 duels won and 86% pass accuracy to go alongside his attacking output, in the most cliché way possible, it’s great to have you back Habib, you’re like a new signing.
One-Sided Affair
All tactics aside, Burnley started the game poorly and after the concession of their second goal, heads had already dropped by the away side. No pressure was applied by the away side and Sunderland were able to sustain spells of controlled possession under no threat at all. Burnley’s threat came in the way of counter-attacks however all of these were the result of Sunderland sloppiness rather than good defensive work by the opposition.
Burnley failed to register a single shot within the opening half and with the exception of the odd cross to claim, Robin Roefs only required the use of his gloves to retrieve the ball for goal kicks. He was however active with his feet, completing seven long balls including another sweeping ball forward to Brobbey to set him through on goal.
Burnley weren’t much better in the second period; whilst they did finish the game with five shots, none were registered on target meaning they’ve registered just one or less shots on target in three of their last five fixtures. With new goalkeeper Melker Ellborg watching from the stands I’m sure he’ll have warmer in his spot than Roefs, whose only action remained one high claim. Burnley’s 0.06 xG was the sixth lowest value produced in a Premier League match since the introduction of the metric.
He’s in your head
After his limited run during AFCON, Chemsdine Talbi returned to the Sunderland team last week to regain some much-needed match sharpness. Returning to the starting XI against Burnley showed his full potential. With news of Nilson Angulo’s transfer emerging prior to kick-off, Talbi needed to drop down a marker to secure his position and certainly delivered.
The young winger looks far more at home on the left and enjoyed some good battles with Kyle Walker despite the ageing full-back losing some of his blistering pace. Talbi finished the match with 4/5 successful dribbles (80%) and registered 7 touches in the opposition box which was the most of any Sunderland outfield player on the night. He glided past opponents with ease and even got stuck in defensively, winning 5/7 of his ground duels and supported Reinildo in the odd times he was required to cover.
In his 80 minutes on the field Talbi produced the moment of the night and secured the points for Sunderland after a mazy dribble resulted in a thunderous strike off the underside of the bar from the edge of the box, topping off a real breakout game for the youngster on the national stage. With both Talbi and Angulo capable of playing on either side, both wingers will be looking to establish a starting spot in the absence of Bertrand Traoré however Talbi showed how good he can be when his confidence is high.
Controlling the Game
In the absence of Xhaka, questions could have been asked around Sunderland’s ability to control the game and undertake some strategic game management to secure the points. Both Trai Hume as the stand-in captain and Enzo Le Fée in the centre of midfield really left their mark and made the closing stages of the game feel more like a formality.
In midfield, both Noah Sadiki and Le Fée combined for 90/99 completed passes with Sadiki having a quiet yet effective game and his 93% pass accuracy backed that up. As the minutes ticked by both players alongside Hume were able to totally nullify Burnley’s midfield and left the visitors looking red-faced as the full-time whistle blew.
Riding the Wave
With a tough week coming for Sunderland as first they face Arsenal on Saturday before a visit from Liverpool the following Wednesday, Sunderland then proceed to have an extended spell of more favourable fixtures and a real chance to mount a top ten push as the season reaches its final stages. With both Jocelyn Ta-Bi and Bertrand Traoré expected to be back in training over the next fortnight, Angulo yet to arrive and Xhaka to follow it looks like a good place for Sunderland to be as they head into the March internationals.
