Sunderland post match thread

Plenty of positives, plenty of work still to do too, got away with the result a bit but it's a great start and things will only get better from here on in.

Sterling was fantastic today, always wanted to see him on the right hand side and he looked very dangerous but he was also a big threat when he reverted back to the left too.

Big shout out to Kolarov who performed admirably in a position that before a month ago was alien to him, really shut all of his haters up. Stones looks settled already. Silva looked in his element first half when he actually had players moving off the ball for him, a far cry from the static formation of the last 2 years.

Didn't see much from Nolito, his lack of pace worries me slightly but i'm hoping he just needs time to settle. KDB and Aguero were rather anonymous i thought which can only excite me as imagine the performance we'd see when those two are up and firing and we've still got Kompany, Gundogan and Sane to add to that team
 
Beating possibly the worst team in the Premier League by a penalty and an own goal is not something to get excited about.
 
TRUE BLUE NO1 said:
I think Pep said it best in the interview after the match. This is step one and he knows what we need to work on. That wasnt the final product today, just the first step towards it...We werent passing with the same pace in the 2nd half and the old city started to creep back in a little but I'm sure it will come. I am hoping once Sane and Gundogan are back fit we will be able to improve that final ball and create better chances. Happy with a win but still think we need a player or two before the window shuts...
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Absolutely.

My motto has always been that I am happy with whatever I am doing as long as I am progressing (improving). That's all you can really ask for and I think we can all see there is massive potential in this system once the players are fully bedded in. And even in years to come as everyone—current senior players, academy players, and future signings—are moulded to it.
 
Dharmic Blue said:
Agreed. The optimism here after a narrow win against a very poor side is puzzling. There were some good signs, esp. Raheem, JS, Dinho as usual. And Gundogan will obviously be an important addition. On the other hand, David, Sergio, and most worryingly, KDB, were poor.

Things may very well get much better when we’re at full strength, but we can only judge what we see, and do so honestly. From that point of view, Pep’s vision for the team may take longer to become a reality than some of us expect. We all need to be patient.
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Dharmic Blue said:
Agreed. The optimism here after a narrow win against a very poor side is puzzling. There were some good signs, esp. Raheem, JS, Dinho as usual. And Gundogan will obviously be an important addition. On the other hand, David, Sergio, and most worryingly, KDB, were poor.

Things may very well get much better when we’re at full strength, but we can only judge what we see, and do so honestly. From that point of view, Pep’s vision for the team may take longer to become a reality than some of us expect. We all need to be patient.
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You need to get real first match most of the squad have been back 2 or 3 weeks totally new way of playing and a new manager trying to get a look at his new players. Add Gundogan sane Kompany ect ect
 
So much to be positive about. I actually thought we implicated the system pretty well. If anything it was our passing that was off. I counted 5-6 10 yard passes going astray. That's just sharpness and will come.

To be fair to Sunderland they pressed higher than I expected but that gave us good control in the centre of the pitch. We were lacking a little in the final 3rd but again that will come.

Stones and Sterling were excellent. Kolarov was also decent.

For those who question whether we looked any different today. Take yourself back to last season and think about what would have happened with only dinho in the middle of the park. No Fernando. No Delph. No Toure.

I'll tell you, we'd have been over run. I've never seen us control the midfield like that before with the personnel we had. That is the system that allows us to do it. The only thing I'd question is that with all the attackers we had we didn't create as much as we probably should have.

We were also solid defensively, again I haven't seen that since Bobby went and is a beneficiary of how we set up, meaning we were winning the ball back in the midfield.

Overall very happy. Throw Gundogan in the mix with Sane and a better goalkeeper, and we are in for a treat.
 
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