Glass half full or empty? Assessing Sunderland's form

Sunderland Echo

Phil Smith discusses Sunderland's form ahead of the upcoming play-off campaign

Transcript

00:00Varyingly, we're looking like the side that limped to 16th place last season.

00:03No creativity in the final third, no goal threat up top,

00:05and a midfield lacking the physicality to compete.

00:08It seems an accepted cliche that form can't just be turned on,

00:11yet we're pinning all of our hopes just on that.

00:14Yeah, I agree with you in terms of there are some similarities

00:16in that certainly the attack and play compared to the end of last season

00:20in terms of at times Sunderland look like they can absorb pressure,

00:24their defensive structure's pretty good.

00:26I know that sounds silly to say when they've just conceded two goals from set pieces,

00:30but I think since the international break that we've talked about,

00:32it's very rare that someone's been opened up by the opposition.

00:35They're not leaking loads and loads of chances,

00:37certainly not from open play over and over again.

00:39The structure and the organisation of the side,

00:41there's clearly still a lot of good stuff in place.

00:43But I agree with you just in terms of going forward,

00:45there is so little at the moment, as I say,

00:47really hard to work out what the attacking game plan was on Saturday

00:50other than those long balls over the top,

00:52and that's something that definitely concerns me going forward.

00:54So I agree with you, Davey, in terms of I do expect something to be better in the playoffs.

00:59I expect the intensity to be better.

01:01I expect the physicality to be better.

01:03I don't necessarily think Sunderland will lack the physicality to compete in midfield.

01:07For example, I think that once you get to those high-pressure games,

01:10I think you'll see a huge lift in some of the off-the-ball stuff.

01:12I do think it's a little bit of human nature to maybe not be at 100%

01:16when you've got those playoff games coming up

01:18and there's nothing riding on these games for you.

01:21Maybe that will make you a bit more tentative.

01:22But I definitely think that there are some question marks over the final third.

01:26And yeah, I've always been confident that Sunderland will produce much better performances

01:30when those games come around.

01:32The other thing I would say is that I think the style of games will suit them all.

01:35They're going to be a lot more open.

01:36The pitches are going to be a much better nick.

01:38There's going to be a lot more space for that counter-attack and play.

01:41So that's me looking for some positives, Davey,

01:42because I do agree with you that there are some really concerning trends,

01:45certainly in Sunderland's attack and play.

01:47And fingers crossed those different types of games,

01:51the sense of occasion will lead to an improvement.

01:54Andy says,

01:55We're going to finish 20 points off the top two and under 80 points.

01:58That says a lot about our massive drop-off and lack of depth.

02:01Performances have been awful this month and today was a real concern

02:04and has had close to our best 11 out.

02:05But we are still in good shape squad-wise for the playoffs.

02:08Glass half full or empty?

02:10Well, it's emptier than it was last week, Andy.

02:12I'll be honest with you after that performance.

02:14I think you're right in terms of saying that we're still in good shape squad-wise for the playoffs.

02:18I think if we're going to take one positive from Saturday,

02:21we're seeing Dennis Serkin on the pitch for half an hour.

02:23I really, really think that's massive for Sunderland's playoff prospects

02:26because I think we're talking about the lack of attack and threat.

02:28We've talked a lot about that through this video and in previous weeks.

02:31I don't think there's any doubt in my mind that the full-back has been a big issue in that.

02:36I think that Leo Hielder, Joe Anderson in the game against Blackburn,

02:39tricky when he's gone across to left-back and Alan Brown's dropped into right-back.

02:42I think those players who've been playing out of position have deputised really well.

02:46And defensively, they've looked grand.

02:48Joe Anderson does handle the ball nicely, he passes it nicely.

02:51But I think there's a real lack of drive into the final third.

02:55I think it's particularly a problem if you have someone like Enzo Lefeu on the left wing.

02:58He's not a natural left winger.

02:59So he always wants to come inside and join in with those attacks.

03:02And I think that's naturally what he's always going to do.

03:05I think you really need that overlapping threat and that's been a big miss.

03:08It's fingers crossed Serkin can get 90 minutes on Saturday and be in a position where he's ready to start those two legs in the semi-finals.

03:15So I think that's going to be really important to the balance of the team.

03:18Yeah, so I think you're right.

03:20I think squad-wise, when hopefully, touch wood, everything is going to be a lot stronger in terms of the shape of the squad

03:28and players, by and large, in their best positions than it was for the Luton game two years ago.

03:34But clearly, the squad isn't performing at anywhere near that level.

03:37And there is that big question mark that we're all talking about.

03:40You know, can you switch it on?

03:41Can you quickly recover those performance levels?

03:44So I'd struggle to sit here and say that my glass is half full, Andy.

03:47But I agree with you in terms of the squad.

03:49There are some positives.

03:50I do expect someone to be better in the playoffs.

03:52But I was quite alarmed by what I saw on Saturday.

03:54There's no doubt about that.

03:56There's no doubt about that.

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