Talking Points: Sunderland salvage a draw after a one-two punch from Watford
Consecutive home games against a strong but unimpressive Watford and a Luton team fighting for their Championship lives felt like a great opportunity for the Lads to bank six crucial points ahead of the trip to Elland Road to face Leeds United, especially after the excitement of Monday night’s trip to Middlesbrough and our thrilling 2-3 victory.
Dennis Cirkin saved us with a jumbled late goal when it appeared the game was slipping away from us, but this was just another instance where things didn’t go as planned. We were on the verge of losing our undefeated home record.
Since we gave the Watford attacker too much time and space to line up his shot before he curled it beyond Anthony Patterson’s reach, the Hornets’ team, who are tough, abrasive, and powerful, edged into a 1-2 lead thanks to a penalty from Tom Dele-Bashiru and a spectacular goal from Imran Louza’s boot. To be honest, the loss wouldn’t have been unjustified.
Luke O’Nien was on hand to head home from close range early in the first half, giving us the lead. However, as has become customary, we failed to get going, gave a very ropey (and at times terribly disjointed) performance, and were forced to flirt with disaster before Cirkin saved the day. To make matters worse, we also had some glaring misses.
Yes, we have gained a point, but it’s difficult to shake the impression that we need more snookers and mistakes elsewhere in the competition for automatic promotion. It’s still possible, but wow, we’re having to go far and wide to stay in the chase.
Frank Bruno stunned the formerly unbeatable Mike Tyson with a strong early shot during their 1989 heavyweight title fight in Las Vegas, but he was unable to cash in as the reigning champion stormed back to win.
Although it’s a different sport, the idea of exploiting your opponent when they’re in a difficult position also applies to football, and once again, we didn’t accomplish that here because O’Nien’s opening goal didn’t give us the momentum we needed.
We appeared to withdraw after taking the lead, apparently happy to give the visitors the majority of the possession. With the elegant Giorgi Chakvetadze leading Watford, the rest of the first half was tense, and Cirkin’s penalty was completely preventable.
Things grew more chaotic after that, and even though we may have displayed greater offensive threat in the second half, we almost ever seemed in control (Jobe’s absence surely contributed to this), so I do believe there are issues with our game management.
We should always want to control the game at home, but in the last two games, we’ve appeared erratic and frequently insecure. This is a problem that needs to be fixed, regardless of whether someone blames Régis Le Bris or the players.
There is no justification for us to perform so hesitantly in our own backyard when we have so much ability available.
This is not a jab at Salis Abdul Samed, who fulfilled his duties exactly and to a respectable standard, but Sunderland lost badly on Saturday due to the absence of Jobe, one of our key players, and Dan Neil’s foil. We can only hope that the ankle injury that kept him out won’t keep him from returning to the engine room against Luton in the middle of the week.
Bellingham gives us drive, the ability to change course and avoid his man before making crucial passes or moving the ball up the field, and the self-assurance to play whatever is in front of him or nearby, no matter how hectic things get.
I do think that at home, we need a little less grunt and a bit more subtlety and guile from our midfield, which the Jobe/Neil axis provides us in abundance. Samed is obviously a very capable football player, and his introduction against Middlesbrough proved crucial as we took the sting out of the game before eventually finding a winner.
As we prepare for what may be a mad race to the finish line, several of the Lads don’t seem to be playing with the same vigor and fire as they were earlier in the season. Sunderland’s team is known to be packed in certain areas but conspicuously lacking in others.
It was odd to see Eliezer Mayenda kept on the bench until very late in the game, especially considering his form and effectiveness in recent weeks, and players like Chris Rigg, Dennis Cirkin, and Trai Hume appeared a little jaded for extended periods of Saturday as Le Bris tried to implement change through the use of his substitutes.
During a promotion race, squad management is crucial. Le Bris has made some good decisions, but he doesn’t always get it right. It goes without saying that if we want to keep pushing for the top two, the entire squad must be used.
Before the teams left, the enormous Sky Bet flag that hung over the center circle was folded up and stretchered off, which was a great pity.
It is hoped that the injury is not severe and that the flag will return to action shortly, most likely within six to eight weeks, Sunderland time.
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