If you thought Rob Hutchison was harsh with his one-word verdicts and low player ratings after the shambles of last night, prepare to reconsider. Rob was positively benign compared with Keir Bradwell, who cannot bring himself to award higher than an average of 3/10 for the starting 11.
Keir uses that infamous defeat at Norwich City last season as the benchmark for Sunderland awfulness. I am sure we can all come up with other contenders (including a few from this season, Southampton (a), Fulham (h) among them).
Pantilimon – 6
Did pretty well on everything he had a chance with.
Reveillere – 4
More invisible than Will Buckley.
Vergini – 3
Weak, slow and all over the place distributing it out.
O’Shea – 4
Like Vergini, but slightly better.
Van Aanholt – 3
Hit an embarrassingly bad shot in the first half, and hit woeful deliveries in the box afterwards instead.
Bridcutt – 2
At fault entirely for their first, extremely weak and pathetic when challenging in the air.
Gomez – 2
Couldn’t put two good passes together in all of the first half. Rightly subbed off for Alvarez at half-time, the only thing Gus got right all game.
Larsson – 2
Appalling. Probably the most disappointing performance of the lot, and Larsson’s most wasteful so far in red and white.
Johnson – 3
At least he tried, right? Captain Slow.
Wickham – 4
Surprisingly weak for a player of his size. Weak, at least, today, but unlucky not to score.
Defoe – 2
Woeful. Hope this helps.
Subs:
Alvarez – 7
Yet again, the prime creator in our side and the only one who looked even vaguely threatening in the second half. Has pace and a good shot.
Fletcher – 2
Might as well just have taken Wickham off with no replacement, such was the impact of Steven Fletcher’s cameo.
(Keir overlooked Brown, perhaps unable to forgive his unimpressive record in the two Norwich games last season – Ed)
The time has come for 4-2-3-1:
Pantilimon
Rev/Jones – Vergini – O’Shea – PvA
Rodwell/Larsson – Cattermole
Alvarez – Giaccherini – Johnson
Wickham/Defoe
I think you are being harsh on Gomez. He has the ability to produce defence splitting passes and can hit a ball from distance but I agree that he isn’t the player to play in the system the manager prefers. That’s not Gomez’s fault – he is a square peg in a round hole. Either change the system or pick a player who can play there Gus.
Fans are impatient and don’t know the game eh? Well we would rather see a team create chances and lose than watch a team retain possession for 60 minutes, not create a single chance and lose anyway.
Until last night I was behind Poyet but his post match comments are not inspiring me to the point where I can defend him anymore. I get the feeling he is not tactically astute enough to adapt the tactics to suit his starting XI or alternatively to choose the best XI to suit his game plan.
The thing that will keep us up this season is the fact there are teams more rubbish than we are but losing at home to both Hull and QPR (who even their own fans say are rubbish) is not the fans’ fault Gus.
Don’t know how anyone can defend this Gomez character, he is slow, lazy and a coward to boot. Some basics of football are, heading the ball, tackling, man marking, tracking back, he does none of these.
He passing isn’t that great either unless he’s given time and space by the opposition, an absolute passenger every game he plays. We might as well play with 10 men.
Our midfield is utterly bereft of creativity. Gomez is a totally inadequate replacement for Jack Colback, and Craig Gardner was far better [ than Gomez ]
I’m not impressed with Rodwell, but he hardly gets a game [ in which case, why did we pay £10km for him? ]
I don’t understand how a team as technically limited as Sunderland can leave out Sanchez and Giacc so often. But, hey ho, what do we know?
Gomez can’t hit two successful passes in a row. The Jordi Slomez nickname is becoming a favourite 😉
Watching the game, I can only imagine that the only person not confused by our ‘formation’ was Poyet himself. The players seemed to have no idea what was going on, 3 central midfielders and Johnson sitting together and then Whickham alongside/just behind Defoe, left everyone all over the place, literally. Not only did our manager not sort it out after the first couple of minutes, neither did our captain or the players themselves. I won’t have a go at PVA, he was consistently left 2 v 1, and Larsson was trying to cover for the other 2 for the first 45.
Then in the second half, when he went to what he now likes to call ‘crazy’ tactics (you know, tactics where we actually create some pressure, have some urgency and manage to pass to each other) he seemed to play the 6’2″ player just off the 5’8″ player?!
I’m just starting to realise that he keeps playing Gomez because he honestly sees his one paced, sideways style as being controlled and patient, whereas we ‘crazies’ in the stand see it as lazy, sloppy and risk-free. If he keeps going with this ‘philosophy’ we are going down.
ifos you have nailed it. Poyet is a tactical genius, and all the rest of us, including the players, simply don’t get it.
Does he think we will eventually catch on?
At last someone has spotted that PvA looked terrible defensively because he had no help at all.
Cannot agree on mark for Johnson. I thought he was really good, particularly because Bridcutt insisted on waiting until he was well-marked then giving him the ball in his own half, so he had to do tricks just to cross the half-way line.
As for the others – Wickham was not unlucky not to score. In a goal that is 192 square foot, he headed into an area of about 21 square foot where Green could possibly save it. Great save but woeful header. Also, Gus did not get the subbing of Gomez right because he left it until half-time when the damage had already been done. It was obvious after 10 minutes that we were stuffed down our left and there were 2 obvious solutions. remove the main culprit or change the formation. if he didn’t want to embarrass Gomez (which is weak management), then at least revert to 4-3-3 and move Wickham back to the left of a 3, rather than one of a 2.
The goals are coming down our left flank because of Poyet playing Gomez – who doesn’t play wide left and is never there to help PvA out.
agree completely. PvA is an attacking fullback, he needs help and cover in defence wherever possible. There’s nobody there to support him.
get rid of poyets boring tactics and get someone in who can bring exciting football back to the club laudrup for me
Eddie Howe.
Thomas Tuchel, but I can’t see it.
should be noted that Laudrup was treating his job at Swansea as a part time thing towards the end of his career there, didn’t attend training either. He’s also off to QPR.
Alan Curbishley is always available…
Gomez gave away possession for both goals, Bridcutt was piss poor defending the cross for the first, but its the clown’s new master plan, Bridcutt marking 6′ plus players at crosses, he was marking Zamora at corners.
I disagree with your mark for Rev,
Most alarmingley nearly all the goals we are conceeding are coming down PVA’s flank
Agree with all your ratings. Disgusted.