Talking Points: Sunderland climb their own Welsh mountain against Swansea!
Régis Le Bris’ players showed immense character to fight back from a two-goal deficit and eventually win 3-2. Andrew Smithson looks at the game’s main stories.
Sunderland reach their peak
The Lads returned to their forceful best in the second half, producing a tremendous triumph that could have far-reaching repercussions for the rest of the season. A really bad start had left us with a significant mountain to climb, but the subsequent reaction and application were excellent. With victories drying up, the squad appeared to be losing momentum at the end of November, but seven points from nine since then provides everyone a boost, as does the dramatic character of the comeback and the sheer quality of the goals against Swansea City.
Turning round the turnarounds
After squandering points from winning situations against Coventry City and Millwall last month, the club has now gone three games unbeaten in a row, despite falling down early. Some of the goals surrendered are concerning, and in overall, Sunderland’s opening spell on Saturday was perhaps the worst they’ve looked all season, but as we all know, this is a young side, and things might have rapidly gotten much worse. Instead, the team demonstrated incredible perseverance and ability, and with Leeds United becoming the latest club to drop points, it’s evident that there will be many changes in direction ahead, but it’s comforting to know that Régis Le Bris’ squad will never give up.
The Lads finally change the record
Our record against the Swans has been dismal in recent years, and it appeared that trend would continue, so it would be interesting to know what was said at halftime – even if things improved shortly after it was 2-0. If the hosts had maintained their lead, it would have been their sixth win in seven against the Black Cats, a streak that began about this time last year with a gutless performance under David Moyes. Even last season’s 0-0 was not the finest, and it took a penalty save to earn us a draw after playing against 10 men for an hour, so another monkey off the back points to developing maturity.
Oh what fun it is to see Sunderland win away!
Not only has south west Wales been a difficult journey in terms of outcomes recently, but it is also a shocker to get to. Throw in the fact that this is the busiest and most costly time of year for most people, and you have what appears to be a terrible trip, but the away section was filled as usual. Large crowds are also predicted at Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City later this month. The support is excellent, and matchups like today make all the miles worthwhile.
Dan Neil…he’s one of our own
Against Stoke City, the club was justifiably praised for starting four academy graduates. Tommy Watson made a difference that afternoon, only to be sidelined three days later due to an injury. It was a setback for the lad, but one he can overcome; in the meanwhile, the squad will continue to battle and make the best of things, despite the fact that numerous others are already on the sidelines. Dan Neil, Watson’s fellow junior product, is a player who never stops improving, and it was fantastic to see him have such an impact with another wonderful performance and a screamer of an equaliser. We all know he has excellent technical skills., but due to the disciplined role he’s given, he can’t always show off his full range and maybe his contributions get forgotten as a result, but make no mistake: Neil is a major part of the group.
Sunderland rally after Vipotnik ends his drought
It seems to happen at any time of year, to be honest.
Opening scorer Zan Vipotnik had been enduring a bit of a lean spell in front of goal but Sunderland contrived to gift him a soft chance to change that within minutes of kick off.
Swansea have a decent home record and will be disappointed not to have capitalised on the head start, instead becoming the first side this century to lose in the league to Sunderland having been two up, thanks to a well-worked winner finished off by Jobe, whose ever-growing intelligence and reading of the game is a more encouraging ongoing trend.
The storm before the calm!
A hectic week ended in a manic final twenty minutes, but now the squad has a few days to rest up before the busy Christmas period.
The packed schedule will be a another new test for Le Bris and he may choose to give the players a little break in preparation whilst he quietly thinks a few things through.
Since arriving, he’s never been keen on making wholesale substitutions and that may be something he has to relent on for now, whilst there’s also the question of who plays in central defence.
This is one of the few areas where the squad is currently well-stocked, and all of the choices have evident strengths, with the ultra-composed Chris Mepham adding a new dimension to his game and beginning to play a few important diagonals. Scorer Dan Ballard presently holds the other shirt, leaving Aji Alese and Luke O’Nien on the bench. The pair performed admirably together at the start of the season, and does a Sunderland squad without skipper O’Nien feel right these days? Le Bris clearly values his nous as much as anything else, as he was the sole player brought on at Swansea, meaning a rare full ninety minutes for Chris Rigg, who particularly needs looking after in the coming weeks, but exactly who gets the nod against Norwich City remains to be seen.
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