Lee Johnson’s Sunderland gamble paid-off in dramatic draw
Thousands of Sunderland fans will have watched the draw with Crewe Alexandra via live streams – but there are those few moments that the cameras don’t capture.
We take a look at some of the moments you might have missed from the dramatic League One draw – from a Lee Johnson gamble that paid-off to a player who attracted plenty of interest:
THE PRE-MATCH PEP
TALK: As Crewe’s back four prepared to undergo the position-specific elements of their warm-up, they were greeted by manager David Artell who had wandered onto the pitch mid preparation.
Art ell, a former centre back himself, was keen to impart some final words of wisdom upon his backline.
There was plenty of gesturing, some pointing at and no shortage of advice for the home defence as they prepared to try and keep at bay a Sunderland side who had scored more goals than anyone in the EFL in 2021.
And for the most part at Gresty Road, they did just that.
Certainly they kept a lid on Charlie Wyke, who wasn’ t given a sniff in and around the area as he endured a frustrating afternoon.
Much of that, though, was to do with the fact that the hosts were quick to close down any of Sunderland’s creative influences. On the rare occasions Sunderland did get into promising areas, the likes of Lynden Gooch and Aiden McGeady were denied space to cross.
So whatever Artell said, it clearly worked for the most part – even if those two late stunners denied his side a clean sheet.
THE GAMBLE THAT PAID OFF: Sunderland’ s team selection at Crewe was generally what was expected given Josh Scowen’s return from injury.
But it was something of a surprise to see no central defensive option on the bench.
Of course, the Black Cats are light in that area at present with injuries to Bailey Wright, Jordan Willis, Ar ben itXh em aj li and Tom Flanagan restricting Johnson’s options.
Under-23 defender Oliver Younger did travel with the squad and even warmed-up with them, but didn't take a place on the bench.
Johnson instead opted to put a host of attacking options on the bench – which, given how the game panned out, was a worthwhile decision.
It was undoubtedly a gamble, but one which paid off.
THE AERIAL VIEW: Under Johnson, Sunderland have certainly changed the way their coaching staff work on match days.
We’ve already seen the use of tablets in the dugout and there was an interesting change at Crewe – as coach Andrew Taylor headed into the stands to take in a more aerial view of the first half.
Taylor was up and down the stairs feeding information to Johnson and assistant manager Jamie McAllister throughout the game. It’s an interesting change, and one whichsuggests the new head coach is trying to secure as many marginal gains as possible.
THE PEP TALK: It was something of a surprise that Sunderland didn’t make any changes at half-time.
Such was the level of performance in the first half that many expected at least one switch would be made – given Johnson generally isn’t shy to mix things up.
But while the head coach resisted the temptation to make changes at the break (instead giving the side ten minutes to show why he shouldn’t) he clearly already had one eye on later in the game as the halftime break drew to a close.
As Sunderland’s players awaited the arrival of Crewe back from their dressing room, Johnson collared Jack Diamond, Jordan Jones and Chris Maguire to give them some words of encouragement ahead of their introductions.
All three played a key role after coming on – with Jones and Maguire netted the decisive goals.
Diamond too was lively and helped in stretching the all of John son’ s substitutions helped in changing the game. That’s something that will be key in the coming weeks, too.
THE QUICK RESTARTS: Earlier in the year at Northampton, Johnson expressed frustration at NorthamptonTown’ s lack of ball boys which slowed down the tempo of the game when the ball headed out of play.
It was much the same at Crewe where, although there were balls sporadically placed around the field, rogue clearances didn’t result in the ball being returned to play quickly.
Indeed, there were just three minutes on the clock when Johnson first had to trot down the touchline in order to fetch the ball and enable Sunderland to take a quick thrown in.
As the game wore on, and Crewe looked to play down the clock, the restarts became slower and slower.
Such was the visitors’ frustration with this that assistant boss McAllister took it upon himself to ping a ball down the line to Max Power as he waited for the match ball to reappear after a clearance. That earned McAllister a few choice words from opposition boss Artell.
THE TWO CRUCIAL DEFENSIVE MOMENTS: While the goals will undoubtedly take the spotlight given their important and quality, two key moments beforehand shouldn’t be forgotten.
The first came from Dion Sanders on, whose brave interception stopped Tom Lowery from adding a third for Crewe early in the second half. Had that gone in, it would have been game over. Then at 2-1, Mikael Mandron sprung the offside trap and broke through on goal – only to be denied by a strong hand from Burge.
They were two moments of quality from the backline in a game in which Sunderland didn’t look their usual resolute selves. And ultimately, they proved key to allowing Sunderland to snatch that late leveller.