The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
Goal-shy Cats under pressure at both ends of the pitch
STRUGGLES UP FRONT ARE HAVING KNOCK-ON EFFECT
IT WAS interesting to hear Mike Dodds talk about how little change there was at Sunderland after Tony Mowbray departed and again when Michael Beale followed him out of the club.
From the outside, the Black Cats’ interim head coach admitted it does look as though the club are in turmoil going from one manager to the next in the space of two months.
But his summary of how things were ‘internally’ when Mowbray, then Beale, parted ways with the Stadium of Light outfit, demonstrates again how the manager may not have the influence everyone assumes they do.
The preparation has been the same, says Dodds, who has been a constant factor behind the scenes.
He also mentioned that, having taken over the team for a second time, the thing that makes him most anxious is when the players actually cross the white line and there is nothing else he can do to prepare them.
That is the lot of all managers and why having good players in your team is imperative.
When it was put to him that sometimes you can stumble across a formula that works, more by accident than design, he admitted that’s what he was hoping for without Jack Clarke in the side.
On Saturday, Sunderland were without the 15-goal man who can make things happen, and it showed.
Psychologically too, for the other players, they must feel his absence keenly, particularly for a team that has scored just 12 goals in their last 10 matches.
But it’s not just in the goalscoring stakes Sunderland have been lacking.
Their inability to defend crosses has become alarming and reared its ugly head against Swansea.
Good decision-making is another key element and there wasn’t enough of that on view from a Black Cats point of view. It’s something that must improve in East Anglia this weekend.
When City left-back Josh Tymon got in behind the defence on Sunderland’s right for Swansea’s first goal, Trai Hume ran back to shut him down, then inexplicably moved away from him to allow the cross to come in. Surely closing down would have been the better option?
Then, having allowed the centre to fizz in, just watch Swansea’s Liam Cullen in between two Sunderland players, on his own, on the sixyard line, in a central position, with a free header. Anthony Patterson did superbly well to block the point-blank header but nobody was alert enough to prevent the rebound from being put into the net.
A short corner later deceived the Sunderland players too easily when goalscorer Ronald almost got in again from a clever move.
In addition to that issue, I’m not sure the modern-day way of playing out from the back suits Sunderland either.
Leo Hjelde was robbed of the ball in the first half on the left when the hosts were trying to be too intricate with their passing.
That ended with Patterson needing to make another save from a stinging shot.
And Luke O’nien was culpable for Swansea’s second goal when he tried to play the ball into Dan Neil in midfield and the visitors broke forward and scored.
You have to say all the time this young and inexperienced team are struggling to score, it does put more pressure on the defenders and the mistakes prove more costly.
The consequence is Sunderland’s season is in danger of petering out with little to play for unless they can somehow win at Norwich City on Saturday to keep their diminishing play-off hopes alive.