COLEMAN MUST
NEW MANAGER CHRIS COLEMAN’S TACTICAL AMBITIONS FOR SUNDERLAND REST ON CHANGES TO THE HEARTBEAT O
protected by energetic players around them.
The first Reading goal was one that we have seen so often in recent seasons, Sunderland giving the ball away in an advanced area and then unable to prevent the counter-attack, with players not quick enough to recover and the opposition’s attackers finding space to cause damage.
It is this fundamentalissue that explains why the return of Duncan Watmore and Paddy McNair was so keenly anticipated this season, the hope being that those two could emerge as leaders at this level and help replace the spine of the side with something more energetic.
At the moment, summer signings Aiden McGeady and Callum McManaman are compounding the problem rather than solving it, and the calls for Josh Maja and Joel Asoro to be given a run in the side, particularly at home, will only grow louder.
The fact of the matter is, as many have already pointed out, that Coleman can only make so much progress without significant work in the transfer market.
Nevertheless, there was much about the first-half performance, in particular, that stencilled out how the new manager will look to take his side out of trouble.
The steady, short passing approach marked a sea change from the direct tactics under Simon Grayson and, while there were some understandable frustrations with the lack of tempo in the first half, there were mitigating factors for that.
Coleman was determined not to be sucked into the dangerous ploy of going gung-ho after the high of last week’s win at Burton, giving Reading the space they needed to expose the Black Cats’ defensive shortcomings.
He will also hope that he can build the confidence of the players to the extent that they move it instinc- tively quick- er and take more risks.
Again, he will also need new additions in the transfer market.
The most frustrating element of McManaman’s red card was that had he headed in Adam Matthews’ excellent cross, it would have been a total vindication of Coleman’s approach.
It had not been an exciting game, but, as at Burton, Sunderland stayed in it and were building a platform from which to take three points that would have transformed the mood inside the Stadium of Light.
Instead, supporters were left to bemoan the same old errors and the same old problems. Coleman will need to overhaul the spine of his side to banish them once and for all.