Is Sunderland's squad strategy catching up with them? #onthewhistle

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith discusses as part of his regular Q&A with Sunderland Echo readers

Transcript

00:00Quite a few of you are asking a point around this one. Chris says,

00:04will we always drop off towards the end of the season if we maintain such a youthful squad?

00:09And Louis says, we always seem to have a big dip in February and March,

00:13consequence of smaller squad numbers and young players?

00:15Yeah, definitely. I mean, there is a pattern here. There's absolutely no doubt about that.

00:19Obviously, last season there were some kind of exceptional circumstances

00:22in some of the off-pitch stuff that was going on. Obviously, the changes in manager,

00:25that had a huge impact on something around this time of year.

00:28But it's definitely a pattern that we see a lot of the time.

00:31This is the part of the season when young players,

00:33especially the ones who are in their first kind of professional season

00:35or the second professional season, have a big dip. And it's definitely an issue.

00:39And it's something we spoke about at the time that Alex Neil was almost really ruthless management,

00:43if you like, when he came into the club and acknowledging players who'd been overplayed,

00:47players who were tired. And development almost just completely went out the window.

00:51He focused on getting 11 players on the pitch who could get the team promoted.

00:56And I suppose that poses a really interesting question moving forward.

01:00And whether Sunderland can get promoted without that kind of attitude towards the end of the season.

01:06I think you have to put the other side of it forward as well,

01:09which is I've lost count of the number of managers who through the first 30 games of the season,

01:14really, really praised the fact that Sunderland had such established patterns of play,

01:18that the players were so familiar, that they had this almost telepathic chemistry

01:24in certain areas of the pitch. And that only comes with using a small group of players

01:27who play together regularly. So you do, I think the fact that Sunderland overachieved so much

01:32and was so much better than the chasing pack through the first half of the season,

01:35owed a lot to the familiarity that they had on the pitch.

01:38And I do also think that generally speaking, where possible, it's better to have a smaller squad

01:42because then everyone feels really, really involved.

01:44Everyone feels that they're really, really close to being involved.

01:47And I think you get a better level of dressing room chemistry and a better level of training

01:52as a result of that. So it is a fine balance. And sometimes you do wonder if Sunderland

01:56slightly too far in terms of the experience and the size of the squad the other way.

02:00I think the big thing for me this season is, I think having a small core of the squad,

02:05I don't think, I think can potentially be a positive. I've outlined why earlier.

02:09And the big thing for us is we just haven't had those players to come in and bolster it.

02:13So, you know, obviously, Salih Samed is someone we thought could have a really beneficial impact

02:19on that midfield. It just hasn't been able to happen. Obviously, Dan Ballard's injury issues,

02:24actually Lisa's injury issues. But I think if you look at someone like Jan Pervader as well,

02:28I think, personally, I think Patrick Roberts has had a really good season,

02:31but I think you've seen the consequences of him just not having anyone to take the loan off him

02:35because obviously the Jan Pervader signing so far just hasn't worked out.

02:38And then again, you look at January, you know, Jadon Dan's heart would be too critical

02:43when you find a back injury that he wasn't experiencing any symptoms of in his medical.

02:48But again, I think that's an example where I don't think, I think a small squad

02:52and a young squad is OK, but you definitely in towards the second half of the season,

02:57we were all saying that we're going to need these players to come in and have an impact.

03:01And that's just hasn't materialised. And I think that's had a massive impact

03:05on why things have gone in the last couple of weeks they have for Sunderland.

03:08And the concern is, is that, is that going to change towards the end of the season?

03:12We don't really know. Le Fay is going to come back.

03:14And as I said, I think that's going to be a huge moment in Sunderland's season.

03:17That could give the whole place a real lift. You know, Sam Ed,

03:20I think still a couple of weeks away after the international break.

03:22Again, will he be able to build as much sharpness before the end of the season?

03:25You don't know. Dan Ballard hopefully will be able to come back and have an impact

03:30if he can stay fit, which would be massive. But again, there's some uncertainty there.

03:34Jadon Dan, Zian Pervera, Ahmed Abdullahi, are these guys going to be able to play

03:37any real part in the season? We just don't know.

03:40So I think there is a definite concern there just in terms of the squad depth.

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