Sunderland 2-2 Plymouth Argyle: James Copley and Phil Smith react to disappointing display

Sunderland Echo

Watch Sunderland 2-2 Plymouth Argyle: James Copley and Phil Smith react to disappointing display - Sunderland Echo on Dailymotion

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00:00Hello, welcome to the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland have just drawn 2-0 with Plymouth.

00:05Phil, a really, really, really disappointing performance and result.

00:09Yeah, I thought Sunderland would go below par right from the start, to be honest.

00:11I don't know if they took Plymouth for granted, whether Plymouth were much better than they've been recently, whatever the reason was.

00:16Initially, I kind of thought that Sunderland's set-up was wrong. I thought it was a strange game to bring Sam Edding forward.

00:21I thought it was probably a game that required a bit more dynamism forward passing from deep.

00:25And I thought it was too easy for Plymouth in the first half, but to be fair, I don't think you can put it down just to that.

00:29I think even after Sunderland went to 4-14 in the second half, they arguably got even worse, to be honest.

00:33And I thought you could see Plymouth grew in confidence, created loads of chances.

00:36I think all's said and done, I think Sunderland were just well short of their best today, for whatever reason.

00:40Slopped me in possession and gave Plymouth away into the game and fair play to Plymouth.

00:44They took it. I thought they deserved a late equaliser. I don't think Sunderland deserved to win that game.

00:49No, I don't think they did either. And I think the defending for both goals is really, really poor.

00:53And I think the disappointing thing is that Sheffield United lost last night.

00:56We've obviously gained a point on them, but we could have really, really closed that gap to the automatics.

01:01Personally, although nothing is decided yet, there's still a long way to go in the championship.

01:05I think Sheffield only gained one point from two games against Plymouth.

01:10Argyll is a potential problem, a banana skin. It's results like that that tend to indicate in the championship,

01:15whether you're an automatic promotion side or a playoff promotion side.

01:19I'm not saying that Sunderland can't or won't get there, but I think it's a little bit of a blow.

01:24It's still all to play for, of course it is. And we know that Sunderland are capable of going to Barrow and getting their result.

01:29And racking up some wins at home, we know they are. But it does feel like it's a day that you look back on at the end of the season

01:33and think that was a really, really important two points drop because you don't want to disrespect them

01:37because they've just produced a really good organised performance.

01:40But their away form this season has been dreadful. It was an opportunity that Sunderland simply had to take.

01:45I felt after the first 10 minutes where Sunderland largely dominated and really were on the front foot,

01:50when they didn't get that first goal, I felt they started to retreat into themselves.

01:53Plymouth actually had more chances as well. They hit the post, Ryan Hardy missed a really, really good opportunity.

01:58They could have scored more today. I think that's a concern.

02:01It wasn't a smashing grab by any stretch from Plymouth.

02:04The first half, I wouldn't say they were particularly ambitious.

02:07They just kind of had what they hold and Sunderland didn't do enough to break them down.

02:10But the second half, they had the better chances. They were quite aggressive in the second half.

02:13I think there was an opening there that Sunderland weren't playing very well and they took it.

02:17I think it's a real shame because I think we would both say we love this group of players.

02:21They're really good. They've given us some really good moments.

02:23But I just think there's a little bit of nastiness that they need to learn, a little bit of an edge,

02:27a little bit of ruthlessness that they need to learn.

02:29Possibly, maybe they did take things a little bit for granted today.

02:32I know that's harsh given the season they've given us, but I think that's where we are after today.

02:36I think they just lacked intensity for whatever reason, whether that was fatigue, whether it was complacency, I don't know.

02:41But they definitely lacked intensity all over the pitch.

02:43I thought really Trey Hulme was probably the only player who you could pick out and say,

02:47is anyone here as best today? Lefebvre was very, very good in the first half,

02:50but I thought probably tied in the second.

02:52Brilliant finish from Isidore, but other than that, I'm really struggling to scratch out any positives.

02:57I thought Sunderland were pretty much all over the pitch.

02:59Yeah, and shout out to Bali Mumba, who did really well for Plymouth.

03:02I thought him and Mustafa Bunda on Plymouth's right flank,

03:06I wasn't expecting to play performances of that level given where they are on the table.

03:11Huge credit to them, huge credit to the manager.

03:13I mean, they got pumped off Burnley 5-0.

03:15I thought Plymouth fans were excellent and it's tough to take for Sunderland.

03:19You'll be back tomorrow with all of us?

03:20Yeah, get your questions in underneath this YouTube video or into me over on Blue Sky and I'll be back tomorrow morning.

03:25And we'll have a podcast on Monday.

03:27Head over to the Sunderland Echo website for all of the latest after the game against Plymouth.

03:30Thanks for watching.

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