Cats’ boss Stoked with win after a ‘leggy’ first half
ALEX Neil’s half-time team talk was unchanged despite Ross Stewart’s injury-time goal – with the Sunderland boss unhappy with his side’s performance in the opening 45 minutes at Stoke.
The Black Cats struggled in the first half at the bet365 Stadium, and could count themselves very fortunate to go in ahead when Stewart fired them in front with his third goal of the season.
Neil said his players had looked ‘leggy’ in training on Friday in the wake of their midweek defeat at Sheffield United when they played for an hour with 10 men after Dan Neil’s red card, and he feared there would be a hangover against Stoke.
He made two changes at the break and told his players to raise their game, and they responded with a much-improved second-half display to secure a hard-fought 1-0 win against the Potters.
“I think the only positive we took from the first half was that we scored,” said Neil. “I thought we were really disappointing – we didn’t compete well, we didn’t land on second balls well enough, we didn’t use the ball well enough.
“That was disappointing and frustrating, but for how well this team has done over a really long period of time, what you could see in the first half was that we were leggy.
“We were leggy yesterday in training as well, so it was a concern for me, and I thought that in the first half you could see how much they had put in the other night [at Sheffield United], and it didn’t help.
“My half-time team talk didn’t change whatsoever because of the goal. The lads know the standards expected, they know what we expect from them individually and collectively, and they didn’t reach those standards in the first half.
“But you are not going to play well all the time, I said to them, and you have 45 minutes to fix it now. In the second half we competed better, we moved the ball better, we were more of a threat and we had some chances.”
Neil (inset) admits he was surprised by how aggressive Stoke were in that first half, adding: “I’ve watched quite a lot of Stoke – all of their games up to this one – and they were much more aggressive than we anticipated before the game, getting after the ball. First half, I thought they were good.
“For us, we didn’t do any of the bits well that we normally do well. What you then have to do is show the other side of your game, the determination, the grittiness, the defensive structure that we have as a group to make sure ‘we don’t get beaten easily.
“We’ve probably haven’t got what we deserved over the last two games [the draw against QPR last weekend, and then the defeat at Sheffield United], we only picked up one point and for how well we did in those games I didn’t think was a fair reflection.
“So today, arguably we got the points we deserved from previous matches.”
Among Sunderland’s top performers on the day were goalkeeper Anthony Patterson, who made several good saves in the first half to keep his side in the game, and defender Dennis Cirkin, who excelled on the left side of the back three.
“I thought he was tops today,” Neil said of Cirkin.
“He’s excellent there [in central defence]. He’s tailormade for it and I think he feels more comfortable there.
“Dennis’ biggest strength is stepping into the game and driving forward, and there were three or four times in the second half where he drove us 50 or 60 yards up the pitch.
“He has good quality, he is aggressive, he’s good in the air, he covers the ground, he can go one-vs-one defending on the flanks, he has all the attributes to be really, really, good in that space. I thought today he showed all of that.”
And of Patterson he added: “The save he flicked over the bar was very good, but the free-kick was a comfortable save for him.
“He’s done great for us and I’m delighted for him to get a clean sheet because we’ve spoken about the fact that we have conceded too many goals and you can’t do that at this level if you’re going to win games and pick up points.”