“While the lack of goals from our strikers has been a concern all season it has gone almost unnoticed that we have forgotten how to keep clean sheets,” writes Mark Wood.
You don’t find a lot more damning stat than six straight defeats, seeming for all the world of a side heading into freefall. There are concerns with the Sunderland squad of this season, some of which have been there since last August, but others which have crept in throughout the last few months.
Well into March and after 37 games of the season, our strikers still only have three goals to their credit. A lot of fans have pointed out that the amount of crosses we have provided to them all season has been insufficient, not helped by our inverted wingers, yet it has to be said that we are in an era of inverted wingers and other teams that employ the same tactic seem to cope
Even though we only had strikers for a portion of the previous season, Ross Stewart scored 10 goals in 11 starts and Ellis Simms scored 7 goals in 14 starts using the same strategy. While Ellis Simms is a talented player, he is not even close to the level of Ross Stewart. Given that they were able to score goals in a similar team configuration, there is reason to question the quality of our current strikers.
All said, even with the contributions of Stewart, Simms and the crucial goals of Amad, at this stage last season after 37 games we had only scored four more goals than this campaign.
But at the other end of the pitch a problem has developed which is as significant as any, which is our defence seems to be incapable of keeping a clean sheet.
Altogether Sunderland have kept seven clean sheets this season, but five of them came before Tony Mowbray’s departure after our 19th league game – only two have come in the 18 games since. For a team in a losing streak, stopping the goals going in against is essential. It turns defeats into draws, and provides a foundation which can be built on. It helps give the team confidence which in this squad has been shot to pieces after the events of the last few months.
When you watch Sunderland right now, it seems like we’re not only prone to let up a goal eventually, but we also appear vulnerable at times. It’s evident that the players are aware of this and lack the courage or expertise to finish a game and earn a point.
Everything that is wrong in that regard was encapsulated in Saturday’s match against Southampton, where we managed to tie the score after a wild first half in which the defense was all over the place. However, we left ourselves exposed as we rushed to win the game after leveling the score and deflating ourselves, rather than closing the door.
There is no doubt that we have missed some quality players due to injury, such as Denis Cirkin, Nial Huggins and Aji Alese, maybe even Ballard now – and that’s just the defence – and you have to feel for Hjelde and Seelt who have had to come into a losing disorganised team and try to make an impression – there’s no chance of the familiarity of settled partnerships forming.
The fact that we have had three tough games in a row and that Mike Dodds has changed our formation for almost every game since taking over has not helped our defense.
This Sunderland team is still winning, and they take on QPR on Saturday to start the remaining games of the campaign. It would make sense for Mike Dodds to select a stable back line for several games and alter it only when absolutely necessary for the remainder of the season, but with injuries and suspension now in effect, that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
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