England to keep playing on the edge despite penalty problems
England have vowed to continue playing on the edge despite the disciplinary problems that have ruined their Guinness Six Nations title defence.
Defence coach John Mitchell believes it is crucial Eddie Jones’ team retain the physicality that is their greatest strength, while addressing the key shortcoming that has sent them spinning to defeats by Scotland and Wales.
Across the first three rounds of the Championship, they have conceded an average of 13.6 penalties per game. To aid preparations for Saturday’s clash with France at Twickenham, two referees have been brought in to offer guidance.
And while avoiding the official’s whistle is their overwhelming priority, Mitchell insists they must not lose sight of what makes England tick.
“We need to sort out our discipline. We need more care around that area. It’s important that we’re a lot cleverer and smarter in certain situations,” Mitchell said.
“It’s a feeling thing. It comes through connection and togetherness. We’re working hard and it will come. There’s doubt about it – the timing will come.
“But not for one minute do we want to stop playing on the edge and stop being physical. It’s something we enjoy and something we pride ourselves on.
“We’re not going to throw
away something that’s really important to us and that’s ultimately a strength which we can bring week-in week-out.”
Although England have surrendered their title to favourites France or Wales with two rounds left to go, Mitchell insists their Championship remains meaningful.
“We’ve got a huge amount to play for because we want to find our best performance,”
the former New Zealand head coach said.
“This is the great situation that we’re currently in – we’ve got a great opportunity to find our best, which is exciting. You learn more in these situations and your ability to find a way. We haven’t found our best yet.”
England must stop Antoine Dupont if they are to inflict a first defeat on France,
whose round three appointment with Scotland was postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus in their squad.
Dupont was the first of 12 players to test positive but with the irrepressible Toulouse magician restored to full health, Jones’ fallen champions are on red alert for a scrum-half who would be the first name on a world XV team-sheet.
“You stop him from running, I reckon! He can run!” said Mitchell when asked how England can contain Dupont.
“He’s a really good player who likes to influence the game and he backs his strengths. He’s got good vision and has good awareness of defenders either side of the ruck.
“He also tends not to be pre-meditated, so he makes a lot of decisions based on what’s in front of him. He’s got a good skill-set.
“Physically he’s really well put together. He’s powerful and has got a good fend. And he can go around defenders rather than on their inside.
“His support play is second to none in the way he anticipates beyond the ball. We’re looking forward to taking away what he has.”
Pep Guardiola claims his Manchester City squad are “on fire” in training as they look to get back to winning ways against Southampton tonight.
The Premier League leaders saw their record 21-game winning streak ended as they were beaten by rivals Manchester United in Sunday’s derby at the Etihad Stadium.
Asked about the mood in the camp since the weekend, City manager Guardiola said at his pre-match press conference: “A mix of disappointment and sadness but, at the same time, the second day a bit better and today completely on fire to try to do a good game.
“It’s a normal process when you lose the games. The reaction is common.
“I prefer if they were a bit, ‘OK we lost the game’ but I think everyone realises how difficult it is to win games, to do good runs. We did it.
“Now (we are) just thinking of the next one. The Premier league is so complicated, so difficult.
“It is good to realise what they have done and there is still a lot of work to do to arrive in the last games to be in contention to win the Premier League.”
Guardiola feels it is important the derby defeat is now shut out of the mind – an attitude he takes after every fixture regardless of result.
He said: “Every game
is forgotten, what we have done the day before, even when we win. When we lose it is the same.
“We are not going to be depressed if the next games are not good. It’s football, all around the world you lose games. The non-normal situation is what we have done. This is the remarkable thing.”
Guardiola dismissed a
suggestion his side should brush off Southampton convincingly given Saints’ recent poor form and the fact they have lost two games 9-0 in the past two seasons.
“We will score 18 – 18-0, this will be the result,” said Guardiola sarcastically.
“What a question! They (conceded) nine when they played 88 minutes 10 against 11.
“Do you think this is a joke? We are going to score nine goals or 18? Be serious.
“We are just trying to win the game. It would be an incredible success for us. Win the game, that’s all.”
City still have an 11-point lead over United at the top of the table but Guardiola has warned the job is still far from done and their rivals are still in with a chance.
He said: “When the option is open everything can happen in football.
"Nobody thought we could win 21 in a row. Anything can happen. United can do it.
“We have 10 games left and we have to win six or seven games to be champions mathematically.
"We’re going to try to win the first one tonight.”
Guardiola routinely makes changes and the likes of Phil Foden and Sergio Aguero could be in contention for starting roles at the Etihad Stadium tonight.
He said: “Maybe, I will decide later. I have an idea in general of the guys who will play but I have a few doubts.”
Asked if these were injury doubts, Guardiola said: “No, everybody is OK.”
Now it really feels like the business end.
On Tuesday, in front of the Sky Sports cameras, at a venue where every game has felt mightilysignificantsinceSunderland dropped into League One, the race for the top two went into another gear.
In a week that will end with a Wembley final, the stakes have risen for the Black Cats.
Their form in recent weeks has been both welcome and crucial. Amid an injury crisis in defensive areas they have churnedaseven-gameunbeaten run that has cut the gap to theautomaticpromotionplaces. Their run-in means they needed it.
TheclashwithPortsmouth began a challenging final 12 games, in which Sunderland will face only four teams currently in the bottom half of League One.
One of those is Ryan Lowe's Plymouth Argyle, who won at the Stadium of Light earlier this season and have shown that while inconsistent, their attacking threat means they can take points off any side.
Soccerstats.com analyses each team's run-in by calculating the average points-pergame of the opponents they have left to play. Crucially, these are weighted to take into account home and away form, relevant to the fixtures left.
As the list below shows, Sunderland have the toughest run in of any team currently in the top ten.
Average PPG of opponents left to play: Hull City 1.47, Peterborough
United 1.53, Lincoln City 1.41, Sunderland 1.57, Doncaster Rovers 1.42, Portsmouth 1.39, Accrington Stanley 1.50, Ipswich Town 1.13, Charlton Athletic1.46,OxfordUnited1.40.
It's a reminder of how small Sunderland’s margin for error is.
Last month we outlined how 90 is the average number of points needed to win automatic promotion from League
One. 92 is the golden number, an average of 2 PPG over the course of the season and a tally withwhichnosidehasfinished third in the last decade.
To hit 92 Sunderland will over their last 14 games need to land 35 points at an average of 2.5. It's a daunting task, but there is reason for optimism.
Sunderland's record against the teams at the top of the table has this season been verygood.Intengamesagainst teams currently in the top ten, theyhavewonsix,drawnthree andlostjustone(againstPortsmouth). That leaves them with an average of 2.1 PPG in those fixtures so far.
Convincing wins over Doncaster Rovers and Lincoln City remain fresh in the memory, and key to Sunderland's prospects will be the return of a number of key players.
Particularlyindefensiveareas they have been short of options of late but at long last, the picture is easing.
By the end of this week Johnson expects Bailey Wright, Tom Flanagan and Conor McLaughlin all to have either returned to have competitive action or be on the brink of doing so.
Denver Hume is also makingquickprogressinhisrecovery from a hamstring injury, while Grant Leadbitter is expectedtoplaythroughthepain barrier after recently dislocating his shoulder.
Johnson has long said that squad depth will be key and as the pressure rises, his options are increasingly strong.
Reachingthetoptwoisatall order for Sunderland, but an achievable one all the same. The hard work starts now.
Sunderland had a two-goal advantage, but there was time left in the game and as Stephen Humphrys raced into the channel, Lee Johnson's side were vulnerable.
The right-back had been caught too high up the pitch and the counter was on.
Then, in a flash, it wasn't. Dion Sanderson stepped in, a turn of pace and the cleanest of challenges. It was a moment thatsummedupbothhisgrowing confidence and clear quality. Sanderson is now entering acategoryofplayerthatishard to define until you see it. Like John Mensah or Jonny Evans before him, he is a loanee who just seems a step above the level.
Four consecutive man-ofthe-match awards tell you just how quickly supporters have taken to this 21-year-old.
His ability on the pitch is a big part of that, but equally key is his grounded nature off it. Sanderson has an endearing modesty and it came to the fore as he reflected on scoring hisfirsteverseniorgoalagainst Rochdale.
The emotions had been 'overwhelming', he said. So much so, he entirely forgot about a celebration that he had planned specifically for the moment.
Like everything else, he did just fine in the end. Two clenched fists, a roar, and the adulation of his team-mates.
Sanderson's humility also leaves you in little doubt that he will take the growing speculation over his long-term future in his stride. As his form has soared, so too has the list of clubs said to be eyeing up a summer move.
On this point Sanderson simplysaidthatitwasn'tsomething he was thinking about rightnow.Hisfocus?Justkeep enjoying his football.
Sunderland's efforts to rebuild their recruitment department are ongoing, but Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman has already begun his planning for the summer window and there is little doubt that Sanderson will feature in his thoughts.
The reality nevertheless remains that for both player and club, there is nothing to be gained by looking too far ahead. For Sunderland, any discussion is moot unless they go on to secure promotion.
They pulled off something of a coup in getting Sanderson
to this level for the current campaign, but you can be sure that it won't happen again. Whatever comes next, Sanderson will be at the very least a Championship player next season.
Sanderson himself will know that only by maintaining his current form will the level of interest in him persist.
Still, the quality of Sanderson's performances means it is impossible not to hypothesiseastowhatthefuturemight hold. The crucial factor will ultimatelybewhatWolvesdecide to do this summer.
Sanderson has said in the past that his long-term ambition is to represent his hometown club in the Premier League. Nothing about his performancesinrecentweeks havesuggestedthatisafanciful aim and you suspect he will be keen to keep it alive for as long as possible. Time, and talent, remain firmly on his side.
Put yourself in Wolves' shoes and it is hard to see why a summer sale would make sense.
A full season at Championship level would surely allow themtomakeamoreinformed decisiononhislong-termprospectsandcapabilities.Similarly, if they were to decide on an eventual sale, then it is hard to argue that at this stage they have come anywhere close to maximising his full value.
A season on loan in the Championship would potentially allow them to do exactly that. The only complication as it stands is that from this summer Sanderson will have only one year left on his current deal. It leaves him in a strong position if there is significant interest this summer and Wolves feel as if they are vulnerable to losing him somewhere down the line in a cut-pricedeal.Thisisnodoubt one of the reasons why there are so many clubs beginning to monitor the situation.
The strength of Sanderson'srelationshipwithhispar
ent club, though, leaves you to think that this is unlikely to be ahurdleeitherpartyfindsparticularly difficult to clear.
The bonus for Sunderland is that the relationship Lee Johnson has with both player and club is very strong.
Strange as it seems now, there was a time when a January recall looked likely.
Sunderland had gone into deadline day looking for a leftsided centre-half, but when Sanderson became available, they took the view that it was just too good an opportunity to pass up.
Itmadehissubsequentlack of minutes difficult to fathom,
but even Johnson struggled initially to find a place for him withmoresenioroptionsdoing little wrong.
The Head Coach was initially left bitterly frustrated by his inability to play in the Papa John's Trophy, regularly denying him the chance to get him minutes and build a rhythm. An early meeting with Wolves proved key all the same.
Johnson made clear how much he rated Sanderson and insistedthatinapackedfixture schedule there would be regular opportunities.
He has been true to his word and most hearteningly for Wolves, he is now thriving in what is clearly his long-term position as a centre-half.
Amidaninjurycrisishehas stepped up as the leader, thriving in the pressure of a promotionpushatabigclub.Johnson is in regular dialogue with Seyi Olofinjana, who manages all loans at Wolves. From a difficult start it is now a deal producing rewards for everybody.
Fans can look ahead to the summer and be assured that if Sanderson is to be available again, promotion would leave Sunderland in a strong position. For both player and club, there is nothing more urgent than achieving that goal first and foremost.