Dear Colin,
Last Sunday we played really well, we lined up well and we fought for the ball. I didn’t see as much of that today and that was what I was hoping to see more of. We could not find the passion and aggression that we needed when you’re playing against a team like Bournemouth. We gave two poor goals away and we need to take a look in the mirror and try and find out what we’re doing wrong.
I would say we have more quality in our side than Bournemouth, but today they brought more commitment and you can see what that can do for a team. If [Jeremain] Lens had been given the goal it might have been different, but that wasn’t the case. Then [Younes] Kaboul was shown a second yellow card; we just didn’t have any luck.
Two points after six games is not enough. I am not downbeat, I am thinking about how to fix things. I’m happy with my squad, we are good enough to stay up but we have to work harder.
It’s a shame for the fans, we are all well-paid and today they paid good money to come to the game and they deserved better; we will try harder for them.
Thanks for your support,
Dick Advocaat
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Tuned in to SAFCSee yesterday at 2pm and had to listen to 45 mins of garbage from NEWCASTLE. Get a grip SAFC. If the prematch chat is not available from our game, then silence would be better than listening to “Ando”. Get the Mags off our website please. Although, maybe they should have left it on, it would have been more enjoyable.
I’m sure Advocaat is wishing he’d stuck to his guns and remained in retirement . Most Sunderland fans like myself weren’t fooled by yet another great escape , it was just the players putting in a shift at the end of the season to avoid a wage cut , whoever was in the dugout at the time is an irrelevance . Nothing against Advocaat ,he’s an improvement on Di Canio and Poyet and probably an equal with O’Neil ,but why is he admitting he can’t fire the team up this early in the season, maybe the fires gone from himself ? The players and recruitment are the real problem of course and the defensive recruitments are not fit for purpose . Expect O’Shea and Brown to be ran into the ground until January and another ineffective couple of panic loans brought in to plug the leaks . It isn’t looking good .
I’m thankful to see Kaboul red-carded since it means he’ll not be playing for a couple of weeks.
This was a lacklustre display, with Bournemouth simply wanting it more.
Add a lack of protection for a poor defence and we have an all too familiar recipie.
I think Advocaat should have gone for a defensive line-up and took the sting out of a predicatable Bournemouth attacking start, then slowly begin to impose ourselves.
Advocaats attacking tactics are too optimistic for the quality of his defence.
I always groan when I hear managers talking about ” their preferred system “, as DA does [ 4.3.3. in his case ]
Good coaches look at every game individually, and decide their tactics according to the opposition.
Sunderland do not have the players to play his way [ and his failure to bring in some decent defenders will cost us dearly ]
He would be well advised to rethink his tactics, because January may be too late.
Albeit to a chorus of disapproval, I suggested here a few weeks ago that Advocaat needed to take a long, hard look in the mirror. I’m glad he finally agrees. I wonder what he’ll see there.
Of course, he wants the whole team to take a look. Some of them, I fear, will see bloodshot eyes and yellow-coated tongues. Well-paid, indeed, and spending their undeserved mega-salaries in all the wrong places. What this squad needs more than anything is discipline. I continue to doubt whether that will come from a man who, for no good reason, declares himself to be optimistic.
“Whistling in the dark” is the phrase that comes to mind. Or, as Advocaat might put it, “Fluiten in het donker.” Either way, it’s unlikely to be effective.