I watched Sunderland’s frustrating defeat at Watford and here’s four things I thought.
On Saturday afternoon, Sunderland suffered a depressing 2-1 loss at Vicarage Road to Watford.
TIME TO SHOW DAN NEIL SOME LOVE
Regis Le Bris remarked after the game, “I cannot say we lost the game because of Dan; that is not the truth.
Dan Neil made a mistake by lunging into a tackle on Kwadwo Baah inside his own box after exerting so much effort to block the striker
from scoring during a risky counterattack.
The gaffe elicited a particularly strong response on social media, but Neil is one person who definitely deserves some love and
tolerance. After Corry Evans suffered an ACL injury in January 2023, the (still young) midfielder was given a challenging task that
effectively required him to pick up a whole new role on the team.He’s done it conscientiously, putting up strong performances in the
great majority of games. It should not be overlooked that Neil was among the very few players who turned down the opportunity to
leave Sunderland during the worst of the League One years, when a large number of players justifiably lost up on the team. His impact
on Sunderland already exceeds that of the great majority of previous players who have played for the team.
As Le Bris mentioned, concentrating only on Neil’s mistake also draws attention away from some of Sunderland’s other problems,
most notably a terrible first half hour in which they hardly managed a pass. This season, Sunderland has frequently sat off a little bit to
lure the opposition onto them, but this was an exception. Despite Watford having six efforts inside the box in the first half alone, they
were too deep to provide a danger on the break and were still easily exploited. As crucial to the outcome as the late penalty was, giving
the opposition such a big lead was even more puzzling since Watford had entered the match.All of this is not to say that there isn’t a
valid debate regarding Neil’s long-term optimal position, particularly considering that Le Bris’s move to a 4-3-3 leaves the midfielder
far more exposed defensively than in previous seasons. Due to Moussa Sissoko’s excellent play in midfield, Sunderland lost an
excessive number of duels, which created numerous gaps for scoring chances. Salis Abdul Samed would surely strengthen the team
when healthy by bringing competition and variety to it. However, assigning Neil a total score of six would be an overly dramatic
response. He continues to be the team’s best passer, particularly
A FRUSTRATING AFTERNOON BUT LE BRIS TAKES TWO BIG POSITIVES AWAY
Le Bris is a head coach who is not prone to an emotional outburst in wins or losses; he is constantly prepared to highlight the narrow
margins in football regardless of the outcome. Nevertheless, it was evident at his press conference following the game that he was
drawing constructive conclusions from a lackluster afternoon.
The head coach was encouraged by his team’s ability to eventually respond in the game and find a way to win it back, believing that
Watford’s formation was the tactical cause of the game’s poor start. He said that this was incredibly encouraging for the remainder of
the campaign.
Then there was an excellent full debut from Wilson Isidor. The arrival of Aaron Connolly earlier this week further fuelled suspicions
that Isidor is here to play out wide first and foremost, but this display was a strong riposte to that. In a first half where he was often left
isolated, Isidor showed a pleasing willingness to scrap with three Watford centre halves to get his team up the pitch. He occupied
central areas well and made some good runs in behind, as well as being in exactly the right place to meet the cross from Patrick
Roberts for the equaliser. It was a very solid, all-round ‘number nine’ display.
WATFORD’S BENCH DEPTH TELLS
Theoretically, Sunderland is strong all across the field aside from full back. For Le Bris, the reality at the moment is a little different.
Watford was a constant threat on the break because Tom Cleverley was free to make more substitutes and did so sooner in the game.
Sunderland controlled the second half without truly seizing the initiative. Le Bris made three, but only two of those came before the
last ten minutes, and neither Ian Poveda nor Nazariy Rusyn were able to make a significant impact on the match.
Although things might get better after the international break, Sunderland is currently facing a significant battle, so it doesn’t seem
unreasonable to argue that a little more rotation.
TOMMY WATSON SHOWS HIS PROMISE
Of course, there was one really positive late appearance to balance out the aforementioned argument. Tommy Watson has been vying
for first-team minutes with a number of outstanding performances for the U21s. Eager to shield Romaine Mundle for the upcoming
demanding week, Le Bris ultimately decided it was time to give the eighteen-year-old his shot.
After a few minutes, Watson was able to settle in and show off his ability to go past players with ease, giving him a close control that
was reminiscent of Jack Clarke. This was before the final whistle. He appeared to be totally comfortable on the level, so this is probably
just the first of many cameo appearances.
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