No changes for Cats despite reality check
SUNDERLAND’S unbeaten start has come to an end with defeat against Leeds United, providing something of a reality check on Wearside.
The Black Cats have made a good start to life in the second tier, collecting five points from their first three games courtesy of a home draw against Derby County, a win at Norwich City, and a midweek draw at Sheffield Wednesday, but no one should be in any doubt the Championship is a gruelling 46-game ordeal.
Strength in depth is the key to success over the nine-month slog, but the Black Cats are still lacking in that department.
Simon Grayson has a strong first XI at his disposal but the busy schedule in the opening fortnight has demonstrated there is a lot of work to do in the last 10 days of the transfer window.
Grayson has named the same team for each of Sunderland’s first four league games – with seven of those players also starting the Carabao Cup game at Bury – partly because he is keen to put together a settled side, but also because his options for change are limited.
Ahead of the games against Sheffield Wednesday and now Leeds, Grayson toyed with the idea of making changes but has ultimately decided to stick with his strongest side rather than introduce fresh legs.
A look at the substitutions he made at Hillsborough last week – Wahbi Khazri for Aiden McGeady, Lynden Gooch for Lewis Grabban, and Darron Gibson for Lee Cattermole – offers an explanation for Grayson’s reluctance to make changes.
Had any of those three subs started against Leeds ahead of the men they replaced, the team would have been significantly weaker.
Grayson knows he needs to add reinforcements, but that is proving difficult due to the financial constraints in place.
Even without new faces, there is some light at the end of the tunnel.
Bryan Oviedo and Jack Rodwell are likely to be in the squad for tomorrow’s cup trip to Carlisle United as they return from injury, while next month, Duncan Watmore and Paddy McNair are due to resume full training after long-term knee injuries.
Of that quartet, Oviedo and Watmore could well be part of the starting XI when fully fit.
Certainly Sunderland could have done with left-back Oviedo at the weekend, because at times Brendan Galloway’s battle with Ezgjan Alioski was painful to watch.
Leeds identified Galloway as the weak point in Sunderland’s back four, and ruthlessly exploited the situation by directing virtually all their attacks down his flank – with Grayson switching George Honeyman to the left to provide more defensive help than Aiden McGeady was able to offer.
It was Alioski who set up the first goal midway through the first half for Samu Saiz.
And even when Adam Matthews had replaced Galloway early in the second half, still the bulk of the problems came down that side and Saiz set up the second goal for sub Stuart Dallas.
At the other end, Sunderland did not offer enough goal threat, managing only one shot on target all game – Lewis Grabban seeing a goal-bound shot headed off the line, on to the crossbar, and away, when it looked like he would put Sunderland in front.
Within a minute, Saiz struck and Leeds never looked back.
Once the initial disappointment wears off, Sunderland will look back on five points from four games as a steady, if unspectacular, start.
But once the cup game is out of the way, they must build on this foundation at Barnsley on Saturday.