Cheap options have cost us dearly
Sunderland just managed to avoid relegation by the skin of their teeth last season so the main priority was to make sure the defence is stronger heading into a new campaign. Unfortunately, Ellis Short and Lee Congerton done their business on the cheap and it looks to be the main reason we are heading towards the Championship next season. Kaboul is the only real defensive addition and he hasn’t been match-fit or ready to face a barrage of attacks from opponents.
We now rely on John O’Shea being our most reliable defender and some fans have already admitted that he is past it so it looks like our lack of ambition in the transfer market will come back to haunt us. If we managed to push the boat out and attempt to sign Jonny Evans or Advocaat’s first target Van Dijk, we may find ourselves in a better position.
We have gone backwards with van Aanholt not being able to defend or mark his player in almost every game he has played this season and Billy Jones offers nothing going forward. Things need to change and hopefully with Kaboul and O’Shea back with Yedlin offering some attacking options we can start to see some points on the board.
Fabio to Lead the Line on Saturday
The main highlight last night was getting to see Fabio Borini play up front and not on the left wing, which we have grown accustomed to seeing during his first spell on Wearside. If he can continue to play with the same energy but is also given chances from Lens, Toivonen and Johnson we may start seeing more goals from the Italian.
He was very unlucky to have his first of the season ruled out by Roger East for very little, but he showed that he is capable of leading the line against Man United this weekend.
Return of the Catts?
Here at Read Sunderland we like to celebrate the small victories and even though we shipped four goals inside 45 minutes we managed to win the second half 1-0 and Lee Cattermole helped make this small victory possible. In fact, a statistic shows that if Sunderland were judged by just second half performances we would be in the top six! Dick Advocaat needs to build on this stat and get the team flying from the off, a little bit like what we witnessed against Spurs but manage to take a chance if it falls our way.
Cattermole came on and showed his old self by helping guard the defence and lead the team forwards even when the game was all but done. Advocaat has also hinted that Cattermole will be back in the team on Saturday and we all hope he can build on this performance when he replaced Jack Rodwell. On the subject of Rodwell, he is the only player I can remember who has no known attribute to his game.
Cattermole = Leader, a strong tackler, communicates well with the team
Toivonen = Good in the air, great awareness of what is around him, links up the play well
Even Larsson = Set pieces, incredible work rate and determination
Rodwell offers nothing – he is tall but rarely wins a header, he is young but has no pace at all the only thing he guarantees is either a yellow card or a substitution. For £10m, we have been robbed and we seriously need to consider moving him on in January, even for a loss!
Hopefully, this performance from Cattermole will see him break back into the starting eleven and stay there to try and drag the club out of the bottom three over the next few league games.
DeAndre Looks Dangerous
DeAndre Yedlin looks like a very hot prospect after his performance last night on the right-hand side of the defence. He managed to do well against Kolarov and also get an assist for Toivonen with a lovely ball in for the Swedish midfielder.
Yedlin showed glimpses of his electric pace and it he can build a relationship with Johnson on the right wing we may see more chances created and teams unable to cope with them working together in tandem.
The Fans Deserve Better
I know fans from around the world can’t see this and we may be biased, but our supporters deserve a mention for last night. Yes, the attendance was only 21,000 but can you honestly blame the turn out after some of the performances we have had to endure not just over the past eight games but over the last few seasons.
To be 4-0 down and remain till the end and continue to sing and chant is nothing short of amazing and our fans really do deserve better. We have some of the worst statistics I have ever seen for a team who remains in the Premier League. We have conceded 17 first half goals already this season. We have won one game this season, against Exeter. Last season we won four league home games and one in the FA Cup. In 2013/14 season, we managed the same amazing record of four league victories at home. However, even though we have an awful record at home our average attendance has been over 40,000! Imagine if we were good?!
If Advocaat can settle this team down and get some wins under his belt the fans will continue to back the club and aim for a better season but if we continue to show no ambition we will end up back in the Championship and the supporters passion may dwindle as quickly as we concede a goal!
