Even at half time, Pete Sixsmith felt Sunderland had been OK, no more … he had seen little to inspire him. Gus Poyet, Lee Congerton and Ellis Short should take heed of how Sixer, a loyal fan for half a century, felt at the end: ‘real rubbish in the second half and they could have won it. It is pushing me ever closer to the end of my tether. All they have to do is pass the ball to a red and white shirt – surely not beyond most of them. Fifty years of relegation struggles. We could well lose this one’ …
I wonder what the eight men of 1973 made of this? Monty, Bobby Kerr, Mick Horswill and Dick Malone are always at the match so it would be no great surprise to them, but what on earth did the likes of Vic Halom and Dennis Tueart make of a second half performance that was as poor as anything that Gus Poyet has supervised and was as bad as some of the worst excesses of O’Neill, Bruce and Keane.
If we want to look at positives, the first half was ok. There was some good stuff played, with Patrick van Aanholt outstanding down the left. Every time he got the ball, ne moved forward quickly and almost scored early on before he rattled in what turned out to be the winner in the 33rd minute. How sweet it would have been had it been two minutes earlier.
Fletcher had missed a good chance in the 20th and the Leeds keeper, who had a good game, despite an awful strip which looked like a bird had s*** all over it, had made a fine save from a busy and thoughtful Emanuele Giaccherini.
Alvarez hit the bar and Leeds defended, barely getting out of their own half. As the whistle went for half time, there was a murmur of satisfaction, but it was no more than a murmur. The crowd knew that a second goal was needed, and quickly, if the game was to be won comfortably.
Rodwell had departed with an ankle injury just before the end of the half and was replaced by Larsson. Alvarez departed at half time to be replaced by Wickham.
For Rodwell, it was a shame as he was having a decent game and had begun to assert himself in the centre of the park. Some would say that a £10m player who has hopes of getting back into the national squad should be bossing the game from the start and that he should not be dominated by a slightly rotund, 30 year old Jamaican called Rudi Austin.
Austin had an excellent game as he drove Leeds forward in the second half. He tackled effectively, used the ball well and conserved his energy by refusing to charge around. He would do a decent job in a good side. Here, in the first half at least, he held a poor side together.
As for Alvarez…… I have seen some decent touches from him. He set up the penalty at Eastlands on Thursday. He is tricky. He wants to score. After today, I would expect to see him do all of these things for Inter Milan. His performance was dreadful and it was no surprise when he was hooked at half time. Poyet needs to think very carefully about whether he should be kept.
Not that his replacement, Connor Wickham, did much better. He appeared sluggish throughout and consistently gave the ball away – he was in good company there. He stands comparison with Harry Kane at Spurs; same age, same build, same problems in getting into the first team, but whereas Kane scores goals, Wickham is struggling. I don’t see him as a winger either so why don’t we play him up front either with or instead of Fletcher?
But the really worrying thing is our complete inability to create any kind of tempo. My Chambers describes it as a noun meaning with speed and rhythm and neither of those applied to the way that we play the game at the moment.
The ball was moved sideways and backwards and when there was an opportunity for a quick, sharp pass to open up a willing but limited defence, we failed to play it.
Giaccherini is the only player to give us any tempo and that is why Van Aanholt did so well in the first half. When the Italian tired after an hour, any tempo disappeared. The rest seem to think that probing ever so slowly at the opposition will eventually give up an opportunity or two. It doesn’t.
I broke one of my resolutions and sat there shaking my head and biting my lip. I exploded a couple of times in the second half as we allowed Leeds back into the game. They may well have had a penalty and they hit the post late on. They probably deserved a replay – and this was nothing like their first team.
We are through and there is something to be said for that. What we want now is a draw away from home against a top Premier League club where there will be no shame in losing. All of our efforts have to go in to avoiding a serious relegation fight, one which I wonder if we are well equipped to face.
Liverpool are next up. We may go into that game with two proper full backs and with the Brown and O’Shea partnership restored. Cattermole may be fit as might Rodwell. But whoever plays, we simply must take the game to the opposition and make sure that chances are created and then finished off.
The rest of the season is going to be a difficult one unless we can add some pace to the team. Any suggestions? An Italian whose name begins with B perhaps?
Join the Salut! Sunderland Facebook group – click anywhere along this line
And follow us on Twitter: @salutsunderland … click along this line
- Jake flags the new feature allowing you to have your say on topic or off
Fancy leaving a comment? Not sure what you have to say fits this post? Go to the made-for-purpose feature – https://safc.blog/2013/07/salut-sunderland-the-way-it-is/ – and say it there
I’ll always be ok with playing badly and winning in the early cup rounds. Trouble is that it is not easy to watch (via dodgy streaming on a laptop). 2nd half was awful and an unwanted Elland Rd visit beckoning. My reason for a late posting is an earlier mention of Gomez by Jeremy & Bill. Apart from hitting the post with a cracker of a shot pre the Leeds game, he has been awful and the biggest offender at killing forward movement or losing possession. Why does Gus keep starting him??
I would quite happily swap Jozy for a colour TV. A colour Tv is sometimes worth watching
And the old jigsaw analogy seems apt too where Jozy is concerned.
Keith makes a good point. Most of the PL teams struggled and we were no worse than Stoke, Villa, QPR and Manchester United. Liverpool were poor on Monday night and were fortunate to win. Akinfenwe had them worried throughout. I wonder if Jozy was watching? Good that Borini did not get on; he won’t be cup tied.
I wrote my piece when I got in on Sunday night. It’s probably better to give it a few hours to put things into perspective.
Mind you, I still thought we were poor in the second half.
I would quite happily swap Jozy for Akinfenwe
Didn’t see the game not televised in SA and would be unable to comment on individual performances but it should not be forgotten just what the Christmas programme takes out of the players. We had very hard games at St James’and the Etihad and Villa. Other teams struggled against players who are driven by their chance to cause zn upset. Liverpool and Man U akso showed tiredness so let’s not bd too harsh.
Fair point Keith
He’s a latter day Paul Bracewell who always reminded me of a dog trying to sit down on a mat. Bracewell was slow to do this and Gomez slower still.
My labrador can do this much quicker than Gomez can.
Several times we had moves that started with pace and tempo – then the ball got to Gomez. The phrase “too slow to catch cold” might have been created specially for him.
Have you noticed when he gets the ball how often his first movement is to turn around and look backwards?
Have faith men. We won’t set this division alight but we’ll be alright.
But I’d take relegation if we won the Cup although I accept these days not many of you will agree with me.
The thing about Alvarez, Pete, is that he needs more time on the pitch, not less. He has some fantastic skills and may be the only player we have with real flair and the willingness plus ability to run at and beat men in the box. He’s not up to the pace of the Premier League, yet, but surely we can afford to indulge just one player with real flair – when we have a squad full of players who have none!
This was the absolute worst Leeds team I have ever seen (since the early 60s). They were embarrassingly bad, and we plodded and struggled.
But…..in the cup it’s all about getting through. I don’t want an away tie where we’ll get beat. I want a home tie against more rubbish opposition, because cup runs are all we have and they can help not hinder our inevitable relegation fight.
The window will be decisive, no fresh face or two then
we are in big trouble. And Poyet? My doubts as to his
motivational and tactical skills are growing, he lacks urgency, as does his team. Too predictable and too passive.
We were rotten in the second half . I thought we would struggle before hand ,untill I saw the team sheet and thought we would win comfortably . Why I thought that , heaven knows , we’ve never in the past . Pete, I share your worries about a relegation battle , under O’Neill the club propoganda was ‘ just wait untill we turns those draws into wins ‘ , I was never convinced by that and feared it would turn the other way , I have those fears again .
Alvarez was not well and perhaps should not have played. I probably owe him an apology.