Cats’ defensive third is where Parky's footprint is the clearest
In Sunderland’s most recent competitive fixture, Phil Parkinson watched on as his side were forced to dig deep and grind out a point.
Here, in part two, we continue to take a look at Phil Parkinson’s first year as Sunderland manager.
They were in trouble because of a defensive lapse.
Bailey Wright lost a header, Charlton Athletic sub Chuks Aneke doing superbly to rise highest and win a flick-on.
Conor Washington was quickest to react and Tom Flanagan was forced to bring him down, leaving the referee with no real option but to show him a red card.
What was so remarkable about this passage of play is that it has become so rare.
What was once the Achilles’ Heel of Sunderland as a League One side has now become their biggest strength, arguably the main legacy of Parkinson’s first year in charge on Wearside.
Even after dropping to tenmen, the hosts posed little threat.
Charlton’s XG tally for the contest was a paltry 0.06.
Will Grigg dropped onto the right flank, Sunderland’s reshuffledefencestoodtalland Lee Bowyer was full of praise for what he witnessed.
Sunderland, he said, were better than the unit his side had faced just over a year ago.
The Black Cats’ previous trip to The Valley, in January of 2019, certainly made for an interesting comparison. These were the acrimonious days of Josh Maja’s departure.
If that was far from ideal, then the Black Cats started the game utterly unperturbed.
Luke O’Nien scored a fine volley at the back post and Sunderland dominated the first 45 minutes. Maja combined nicely with Charlie Wyke, and Sunderland played some of their best football on the road.
Athalf-time,Bowyerturned the game on its head. Charlton went direct, firing the ball early and long into Lyle Taylor.
Sunderland could not contain Taylor and the end result was the kind of 1-1 draw that became all too familiar in that campaign of fine margins and the most narrow of misses.
Privately, Sunderland con
ceded that this was the way to get at them. They had real ability on the ball, and in Maja they had a tremendous striker, but the fear persisted that they struggled to cope with the physicality of some of their League One opponents.
The theme continued and was perhaps underlined even more starkly during the Checkatrade Trophy final a couple of months later.
Sunderland dominated the first half of that contest, producing one of their most controlled displays of their season.
Portsmouth manager Kenny Jackett, like Bowyer at the Valley, was later able to turn the trajectory of the game by introducing Gareth Evans and Brett Pitman.
Powerful and imposing, they dragged their side onto the game and up the pitch.
There was a lack of trust in a defence that was too easily exposed. The wide open and ultimately unsuccessful games against Accrington Stanley, Burton Albion and Coventry
City, from which Sunderland took just a point on home turf, settled their promotion fate and exposed the faultlines of a side that lacked defensive consistency.
Injuries and poor form saw Ross constantly reshuffling his options and fielding new partnerships in the spine of his side, an indictment of the previous summer’s recruitment in that position.
In the nascent stages of the 2020/21 campaign, that is a thing of the past and the display at Charlton underlined it.
Yes, that owes much to the opposition, a side still emerging from two years of off-field turmoil and one that, currently atleast,bearsnocomparisonto the one that beat Sunderland at Wembley in the play-off final.
Sunderland’s defensive consistency, though, is inarguable.
In the opening four games of the campaign, Sunderland’s expected goals tally is just 2.29.
That works out at just 0.57 per game, and is the best in the
division.
Under Parkinson, their goals-conceded-per-game tally in League One is just 0.66, down from 1.07 under Ross. The underlying statistics suggest that this is no fluke.
Theyconcedetwoshotsless per game and their expectedgoals-against-per game tally is down, from 1.2 in the 2018/19 season to 0.99 under Parkinson. Part of this, undoubtedly, is down to personnel. In that regard, the early stages of the 2019/20 season are instructive.
This period was of course marked by the failure to keep a single clean sheet, something that Parkinson remarked upon as an immediate area for improvement.
Yet that bizarre statistic belied a side that under Ross was moving in the right direction.
Early in that summer, with Mark Campbell still hovering and the Black Cats hamstrung in the market as a result, Ross pointed to Jordan Willis as an example of where he wanted to take his side.
At that stage, the expectation was that he would move to the Championship. Sunderland managed to sign him, and the results were clear.
The Black Cats improved markedly, their XG in those opening ten games of the season dropping to just 0.79 per game.
Ross noted that while Jon McLaughlin had been a key figure as Sunderland kept clean sheets aplenty, now he had less to do even as his side failed to register shutouts. In short, then, there was a platform for Parkinson to build on.
After a difficult start, that is exactly what he did. The switch to a 3-4-3 system brought improved performances from playerslikeFlanagan,whohave clearly benefited from the defensive coaching on offer.
Denver Hume, too, is a player whose defensive game is going from strength to strength.
It has not gone unnoticed that over time, the youngster has begun to throw himself into challenges with a gusto in stark contrast to some of his early appearances.
What was a problem position 12 months ago is now well and truly locked down.
Bailey Wright has proved a superb addition, and indeed it is testament to Parkinson’s structure that the serious injury he sustained last season did not lead to a major dropoff in Sunderland’s defensive numbers.
Injuries will present a conundrum for Parkinson in the countdown of the transfer window, but the preferred back five is now fixed in a way it never has been in Sunderland’s League One spell so far.
A further boost for Parkinson this season has been the outstanding form of Grant Leadbitter, seizing the holding midfield role and adding another layer of protection for his side.
Many had wondered how prominent he would be in the final year of his contract but right from early pre-season, Parkinson and his backroom staffwerebuoyedbyhissuperb output in training.
Leadbitter was going above and beyond, specially-tailored sessions Nick Allamby boosting his fitness.
Parkinson recently played down reports linking him with a move for Leeds United midfielder Robbie Gotts, who had been on the club’s radar over the summer.
T h at m a d e i m m e d i at e sense. Leadbitter’s performances, as well as Dan Neil’s, had significantly reduced the need for strengthening that part of the pitch.
Though the picture was perhaps not as bad as it first appeared in October 2019, this is one department where Parkinson’s work is undoubtedly clear.
It says everything that while once supporters would have felt on edge against most sides in the league, this side of the Cats’ game is now the main reason many would put forward if asked what was most likely to get them over the line in terms of automatic promotion.
On his arrival, Parkinson said that the Sunderland side he had watched and analysed were ‘too loose’ and ‘too open’.
Twelve months on, no one would accuse his side of that.
*See tomorrow's edition for part three of Phil Parkinson’s first year as Sunderland manager.