Today Sunderland may have shocked many football fans by holding Aston Villa to a 2-2 at Villa Park, however does it make up for continuous mistakes from a supposed ‘fresh’ defence? Younes Kaboul, being doubted to appear, made the starting XI and unfortunately again didn’t seem to improve from what fans can only describe as a worrying watch. Billy Jones stepped in as Adam Matthews regains fitness, and again replicated Kaboul with a pretty poor defensive display, relying on other players on the pitch to cover for him multiple times or simply not dealing with the pace Villa produced.
One of those players being Yann M’Vila, who when asked to do the job, he fulfilled and gave the extra 10%, attacking and defending. The recent showings of the young French wing-back Jordon Amavi would scare any defender, when paired with Scott Sinclair it may be deemed a catalyst for defensive nightmares, yet M’Vila replied and made important, sometimes drastic challenges in order to create an impact throughout the game. Moving forwards, he seemed the link Sunderland have needed for years, with phenomenal long balls causing havoc in the Villa defence, and not to mention the stinging 25 yard free-kick he hit past Brad Guzan.
It also goes to mention Ola Toivonen, who came onto the pitch at the start of the second-half for a lost Lee Cattermole, and was the link that created Jeremain Lens’ first Premier League goal for the club, adding to his 2 assists.
Overall, a somewhat attractive attacking display from the Black Cats, however, what do we do with the defence? It’s time to question why players haven’t produced what we know they can, examples being Lee Cattermole and Patrick Van Aanholt, and ideally look for a suitable man to challenge the first team’s defenders, whether that answer is within the club or elsewhere, because lets face it, it won’t take much to beat the players currently filling our back-line.
