Gav says…
Nothing we’ve seen from Sunderland this season in terms of performances has happened by accident. Everything is deliberate.
We’ve built a team that’s wired to do things in a certain way. We have many very
good players, but we also have players who are prepared to work hard without the ball, who understand that this is a non-negotiable if you’re a Sunderland player, and they all seem to really enjoy working within that system.
It means that we actually hold competitive advantages over many teams in the Premier League, which is something I think most of us were concerned about in the build up to the season.
Every single club in the Premier League possesses quality footballers, so how do you give yourself the edge? Well, by working harder. By being fitter. By being more prepared. By being physically superior. That’s how Sunderland are able to compete against teams like Aston Villa, who have hundreds of millions of pounds worth of footballers at their disposal — players that most clubs at this level would love to have themselves.
Ollie Watkins and Jean-Philippe Mateta may have been two of the most dependable strikers in the league in recent years, but they were outfought and outthought by Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete and thus, they made them both look very average.
Against West Ham, Brentford and Aston Villa, we scored goals where we just wanted the ball more than they did. Determination, desire and resilience are areas in which Sunderland can genuinely be better than the other teams we’re facing.
If we can maintain the belief and togetherness that we’ve shown in the first few months of the season, I have no doubts that we’ll be absolutely fine in the Premier League. We’ll lose games and there’ll be games where other teams with better players are just as good at it as we are, but if you can be ultra-competitive and work as a team for the majority of your games, you’ll be absolutely fine.
This team hasn’t given us a reason to doubt them yet, and long may that continue.
Ciaran McKenna says…
Sunday’s game was a big test and when Reinildo saw red, I did fear the worst.
Playing against a good side for sixty-plus minutes with ten men would be a difficult ask, and one that many teams would not have been able to answer, but the Lads did just that. They stuck to the game plan and fought valiantly to not only keep Villa from scoring more, but also to grab the equaliser.
Our defending was immense.
Omar Alderete, Dan Ballard and Nordi Mukiele battled for every ball, Trai Hume was stupendous and Arthur Masuaku calmly did everything that was asked of him for his fifteen minutes of play. Chemsdine Talbi and Enzo Le Fée dug in; Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki covered every blade of grass, and Wilson Isidor did magnificently well to dispatch his goal. The rest of the subs were brilliant and even Dan Neil won a vital free kick to take the pressure off.
It was brilliant to see and exactly the sort of performances we need to be putting in to be a Premier League club next season. This robust resilience is a vital characteristic for a club fighting for every point, and it seems that the players get that too. We saw this in the post-game interviews — both Régis Le Bris and the players highlighted how important it is to keep fighting and working hard, to turn zero points into at least one.
We saw more evidence of our rock solid defending away at Palace and we will have to emulate that a lot this season, especially when playing the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City and Liverpool.
The season is just getting started and we need to keep this up. I know the players can feel and hear our support, and I hope they’re as motivated as they’ve been so far to keep getting the results and earning the points we need, for the rest of the season.
John Wilson says…
One of the most important aspects of any successful team is its togetherness and unity, and one of the most impressive things Régis Le Bris has done with this new squad is to build this togetherness on the training pitch.
When Nottingham Forest bought in a raft of new players upon promotion, there were a lot of raised eyebrows. It took them a long time to gel and I think a lot of people were ready with their “I told you so” speeches, but they survived and built on that base once the squad bonded.
We’ve needed no such time, and what a joy it’s been to see this team already forming friendships, all singing from the Mackem hymn sheet, and fighting for every ball and every point. For me, this trumps skill on its own; of course I’d rather have both, but I’d prefer eleven fighters than eleven prima donnas.
It seems a very long time since we had our own ‘big units’ on show. We’re not here to be pushed off the ball and bullied anymore — we’re here to go toe to toe with any team who thinks they can muscle us out of the game. For me, this fighting quality and resilience will be the main foundation on which we’ll survive and thrive.
I was at the match with a Villa mate and out of friendship and balance — after listening to Haway the Podcast’s review show — we listened to a Villa one and they were in total agreement with our own assessment. One thing they said which stuck with me was “It’s disrespectful to view Sunderland as simply a newly-promoted club from the Championship. This is a new team and they’ll fight all over the pitch”.
Teams have been warned! Heartwarming to watch.
Mark Wood says…
We’ve only played five games so far, but for me the 1-1 draw was as significant a single point won as the three in each of our two wins.
When Reinildo was sent off, I don’t think I was alone in fearing the worst. How many teams, not just Sunderland teams have we seen cave in over the years after going a man down? Outnumbered, I was expecting Aston Villa to cash in with the extra man, take the majority of possession and gradually wear us out over the ninety minutes.
Instead, we looked the better side for long stretches of the game and apart from Villa’s late spell, we looked the more likely winners — which brings me back to the ‘significant point’ because despite being a man down, if Robin Roefs hadn’t made a mistake, we would’ve won the match.
Dare I say it: is that not the sign of a good team? Yes, we showed a lot of resilience, but it was more than plucky resilience in the face of adversity — it was also allied to classy performances from the likes of Omar Alderete, Nordi Mukiele, Granit Xhaka and Noah Sadiki, while Dan Ballard was a complete pain in the arse for Villa in all areas of the pitch.
There’s a togetherness and commitment to the cause in the Sunderland squad which has served us well since we began the climb from League One, and our summer incumbents look like they too have fully bought into it. If we combine that with some consistent performances from the players who showed their quality on Sunday, I think we can start to believe that we’re going to be OK.
Nic Wiseman says…
0-1 down and a player short would see many teams crumble…but not this lot.
The fortitude and determination exhibited by the team is a testament to the coaching staff. Régis Le Bris was good last season, but he’s really earning his corn this term and a renewed contract was never more thoroughly deserved.
In fact, going down to ten men seemed to galvanise the team, and world class players like Ollie Watkins and Morgan Rogers hardly got a sniff. I didn’t even realise Watkins was on the pitch until stoppage time, when Villa seemed to have accepted the draw.
More examples of the team spirit and how well drilled they are can be seen in the reaction by various players to our equaliser. Omar Alderete beat the ground with gusto and big Dan Ballard trotted over to the coach to receive instructions.
The never-say-die attitude has been cultivated over the time of Régis Le Bris’ tenure.
Witness Swansea away in December when we came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2, Luton away before that — a tricky-looking game — was safely seen through, while Preston at home parked the bus and playacted in the extreme, and Romaine Mundle was on target in both of those games.
The players are playing with smiles on their faces, which given how little time they’ve been together is an extraordinary compliment to the backroom staff.
The best thing is that the more they get to know each other, the better it’ll get. How fantastic!
