Cats have lots of quality in squad & look strong for run-in – Phillips
Kevin Phillips says that Sunderland look ‘very strong’ – as the side target a return to the Championship.
The club legend was part of the Sky Sports punditry team for the Black Cats’ win at Portsmouth, and was full of praise for the players and new head coach Lee Johnson following the triumph.
Goals from Charlie Wyke and Jordan Jones proved enough on the south coast, and Phillips felt a 2-0 win was a result befitting a strong Sunderland performance.
"I think they’re deserved winners,” he said
"I think Portsmouth were pretty poor to be honest, but Sunderland dealt with everything they had to. They were very professional and took their chances.
"The tempo of their football at the moment, and actually the football they’re playing at the moment – I was there last Tuesday and it surprised me.
"They play out the back, they look very comfortable. They’ve got McGeady who is a player bang in fire and Charlie is probably the outstanding striker in the league.
"All those components together and the players they can bring on, they look very strong at the moment.
"When you’ve got quality players in possession, you’re going to hurt any side in this league,” he continued.
"It just shows the quality of the squad that Sunderland
have got. These players are on good money, it’s the biggest budget in League One, so they should be where they are – challenging for the title.”
Johnson has impressed since his arrival, leading the side on an eight-game unbeaten run while also implementing a front-footed style of play.
And while Phillips has been impressed with the way
Sunderland have played in recent weeks, he knows only thing will matter come the end of the current season.
"I know that club inside out, and it’s just about getting them out that league,” he admitted.
"You can go in with your philosophies, your game plan – it’s finding a way to win with the players you’ve got.
"Lee knows that and he’s
experienced enough as a manager to know that.
"Managers have tried and haven’t got them out that league. A new owner comes in and he demands promotion, and he’s finding a way to win.
"The players look like they’re playing for the manager and everything is rosy at the moment.
"But we all know that football can change very quickly.”
Phillips also had praise for Luke O’Nien, who was named as Sky Sports’ man of the match.
The former Wycombe man has been deployed as a makeshift central defender in recent weeks but once again impressed at Fratton Park. helping the side to a third straight clean sheet.
"Luke O’Nien is a really versatile player,” said Phillips.
“I've watched Sunderland a lot over the last few years and he’s played everywhere. I think he’s only not played in goal.
"He’s one of those players that every manager likes in his side; you can put him anywhere and he adapts.
"He looks like he’s a quick-learner.”
Lee Johnson hailed a professional performance from his side and insisted they would not get carried away after going within two places of the automatic promotion places.
Sunderland took the lead through a Charlie Wyke header early in the first half at Fratton Park, before a fine strike from Jordan Jones secured the three points at Fratton Park.
Johnson spoke of his delight at a performance that showed the strides his team is making.
“I was really happy with that. It gave me a lot of satisfaction,” Johnson said.
"I thought we were so professional after we scored our first goal.
“We made minimal mistakes defensively, and we had a lot of interaction and interplay going forward.
“We were a difficult side to play against tonight.
“Portsmouth tried to bully us, I thought. They wanted to get the ball in to their two big lads but our back two, and later back three, coped with that really well and limited them to not a lot.
“Against a good side like Portsmouth, I think that shows that we are improving and progressing as we want to.”
The win marked the latest step in a remarkable turnaround for the Black Cats, who are now eight games unbeaten in all competitions.
Johnson urged his squad
to stay focused as they begin a challenging run of fixtures.
“It’s [form] down to the players,” he said.
"The coach can come in with a philosophy, but they have to carry it out. Let’s be careful though because statistically we were good anyway.
"We were good. When I did all my research, it was a good time to take a side.
"It was almost unlucky, the league position at that point. But we’ve got good players, and good students who are taking in what the manager wants. That means you are going to go and get results.
"I’ve said I think that the bigger clubs in the division will come through, and I think that’s showing now.
"A lot of the bigger clubs are starting to make inroads in that top six and towards the top two, including us.
"We’ve just got to keep making sure our performances are good and that we keep building. We have to be relentless in our attitude to win football matches.
“We’re still the challengers. What do you fight harder as, the challenger or the champion? At the moment, we’re the challenger and we have to just continue with what we’re doing. If you start looking at the outcome, you can fall down.
" Fans and press can do what you want, that’s your prerogative, but our job internally is to make sure we keep our eye on the ball.
"There’s still loads of bits today we could have improved on, loads,” he added.
"I can think of ten things straight away we could have improved on, and we’ll go away and assess it. We’ll obviously praise the boys, we’re not going to beat them with a stick when they’ve performed as well as they have tonight, but at the same time its that reaffirmation of the quality stuff and make sure we genuinely assess the stuff we can improve.”