Sunderland (A) Match and Post Match Thread

[gratziani]

We are having a good season but theres no escaping we have had 3 or 4 poor results against lesser teams and this is a trend we have to start bucking

Its been a problem for years, we beat the big teams but fall short against the lesser teams. It undermines all the good work you do against the better teams nd puts pressure on yourselves as you cant then afford to slip up in the big games

Chelseas squad has way more depth than ours

We have lost twice in the league and sit second in the table though in klopps first full season, I am over the moon at the season as a whole

But the Bournemouth game is the one I cant get out of my head , think this was the one that showed we wont get the league this year.

[Kenneth]

Our main striker is not a klopp striker and sits on the bench. Can and Lucas, two of not very many CMs aren't really going to play unless necessary, klopps preferred GK is young and inexperienced, we have a MF player at left back with a poor LB as cover. The squad needs some workbefore the klop machine can run really smoothly so we're making a bloody good job of it in the meantime.

[Lecter]

That's not to say we can't or won't improve. But it's light years ahead of where we were in the last two seasons.

[Lecter]

Our main striker is not a klopp striker and sits on the bench. Can and Lucas, two of not very many CMs aren't really going to play unless necessary, klopps preferred GK is young and inexperienced, we have a MF player at left back with a poor LB as cover. The squad needs some workbefore the klop machine can run really smoothly so we're making a bloody good job of it in the meantime.

Exactly, the squad is terribly thin imo

More so if you get a couple of injuries to key positions

[Kenneth]

It's thin for the game that we want to play, yes.

[Kenneth]

And thank God Clyne is a machine as we don't have much cover at RB.

[Lecter]

And thank God Clyne is a machine as we don't have much cover at RB.

As much as I like the kid Arnold I am not sure I would want to see him get an extended run

Its the same the otherside, if Milner is injured that could mean an extended run for Moreno (who I dont particularly like)

[PTP]

we are a bit bare - it's like we are on a knife edge with our squad. I said a month or two back - if we keep are 13/14 main players fit and playing regularly then we will defo be up there fighting it for the league in May but it's a long way and big ask to do so

understandably, we looked shattered yesterday. And we seem to have a few players out injured just when a bit of rotation could have been crucial. Can't help but feel Ings's energy right now would have given us a massive boost, especially with Mane going and Sturridge being unreliable.

I'm pretty confident we will be up there and finishing top four, and we could win a cup well then it would be a great season. But just hope we get players back/get them fit/keep them fit between now and the end of the season.

[Buzzo]

With respect Buzzo I haven't wtf are you talking about man? Don't pigeon hole me into that category. I haven't talked about us winning the league as I never thought it was on the table but make no mistake about it this season has been nothing short of miraculous. I'd like to think that I haven't been involved in negative posting, as there hasn't been much to talk about. If there is talk about, if there isn't don't. Our squad being thin (Highlighted with our current inury hit squad) & us lacking some steel in the middle of the park to see out certain games isn't exactly wide of the mark. Certainly not negative posting.

You and others can talk about winning the league, i'll sit here quietly and be absolutely delighted that we are even challenging and being in contention for the champs league places

Yours was just the post that prompted me

I still believe that if the supporters don't think it's possible then it probably won't happen.

Agree with the squad depth, though we do seem to have had 2 bad winters with injuries.

I'll be happy whatever this season because we are a good improving team, but I'll not rule out winning the league until it's impossible.

[Exiled_red]

I think the frustration comes with the fact that this year is arguably the year to win it, due to not having Europe and benefitting from the fact that other teams have to put up with it. But as Buzzo said, we are having an incredible season and if not for Chelsea, we would be top of the league, so a bit of perspective need to be used. And there is still 18 games to go.

We've got strength in depth. Have a look at Chelsea for instance and tell me they haven't got a problem if they lose Hazard or Costa for a long period. We haven't had Coutinho and Sturridge for large parts of the season, lost Matip for a considerable amount of time as well but we're still up there competing. So yeah, being frustrated is understandable but anything more than that is pushing it a bit too far I guess.

I think that the frustration comes from seeing us up there and making stupid mistakes that cost us points, you might not like it but when a team plays above their level and deserves to take a point or points off you then you can hold your hands up and say fair enough it was deserved. What frustrates me is that we were the better side and through stupid mistakes we gifted them 2 goals and cost ourselves 2 points.

Of course it wouldn't be so frustrating if we weren't doing so well.

We have coped well with the injuries that we have but I still think that our squad is too thin. We have 16 senior outfield players perhaps 14 of whom you would be happy to start games, a couple of injuries or absences in the same area of the pitch and we are in trouble eg Mane away, Coutinho out and Sturridge picked up a knock that leaves Firmino and Origi as our only 2 fit forwards, we can push Lallana up there but that leaves us with no cover in midfield with Henderson currently out. The next few weeks could really stretch our squad as we have alot of games this month.

[Exiled_red]

We have lost twice in the league and sit second in the table though in klopps first full season, I am over the moon at the season as a whole

But the Bournemouth game is the one I cant get out of my head , think this was the one that showed we wont get the league this year.

I know this isn't really your point and this reply isn't aimed at you in particular. but I have seen alot of posts recently about how many games teams have lost and I don't really think that it is the appropriate metric, draws are almost as costly as defeats in terms of number of points. For me it it not about the number of games that you lose but the number of games you fail to win. If you look at the table at the moment Us, Chelsea and Spurs have all only lost 2 games we are 5 points behind Chelsea and Spurs are 10 points behind Chelsea. The reason that we are so far behind is not winning games is costing us. Last season we lost the same number of games as Man City, they finished 4th, we finished 8th.

[Exiled_red]

we are a bit bare - it's like we are on a knife edge with our squad. I said a month or two back - if we keep are 13/14 main players fit and playing regularly then we will defo be up there fighting it for the league in May but it's a long way and big ask to do so

understandably, we looked shattered yesterday. And we seem to have a few players out injured just when a bit of rotation could have been crucial. Can't help but feel Ings's energy right now would have given us a massive boost, especially with Mane going and Sturridge being unreliable.

I'm pretty confident we will be up there and finishing top four, and we could win a cup well then it would be a great season. But just hope we get players back/get them fit/keep them fit between now and the end of the season.

For me this month is make or break, we have alot of fixtures the players are starting to look a little tired and we have picked up a few injuries, if Henderson and Sturridge are out and Coutinho isn't back we are down to our only fit senior midfield and attack of: Wijnaldum, Lucas, Can; Lallana, Origi, Firmino and just kids on the bench

[BigChief]

For me this month is make or break, we have alot of fixtures the players are starting to look a little tired and we have picked up a few injuries, if Henderson and Sturridge are out and Coutinho isn't back we are down to our only fit senior midfield and attack of: Wijnaldum, Lucas, Can; Lallana, Origi, Firmino and just kids on the bench

I think we're overplaying this 'make or break' situation. We could win all our games this month and still end up cup-less and outside the top four when the time comes. So is it really that make or break?

What we need to do is just keep going, expect some bumps along the way, but ultimately when all the top six games are over by end of February put together a winning run finish. With all our players fit again by then, and only one game a week, there is no reason for panic.

[PTP]

I think that the frustration comes from seeing us up there and making stupid mistakes that cost us points, you might not like it but when a team plays above their level and deserves to take a point or points off you then you can hold your hands up and say fair enough it was deserved. What frustrates me is that we were the better side and through stupid mistakes we gifted them 2 goals and cost ourselves 2 points.

Of course it wouldn't be so frustrating if we weren't doing so well.

We have coped well with the injuries that we have but I still think that our squad is too thin. We have 16 senior outfield players perhaps 14 of whom you would be happy to start games, a couple of injuries or absences in the same area of the pitch and we are in trouble eg Mane away, Coutinho out and Sturridge picked up a knock that leaves Firmino and Origi as our only 2 fit forwards, we can push Lallana up there but that leaves us with no cover in midfield with Henderson currently out. The next few weeks could really stretch our squad as we have alot of games this month.

Yeah that is whats frustrating - it's like people going on at our 'weak defence' - I don't think we have a bad defence at all....every team will concede goals....it just feels like all the goals we seem to concede come from howlers or individual errors and they come at times which really hurt us. And because we've been tagged as a poor defence, every goal now gets over-analysed -

I think the other that frustrates is the games we have dropped points in we really shouldn't have - Bournemouth, West Ham and Sunderland yesterday - see those games and we'd be top (all be it with Chelsea having a game in hand)

[red g]

I think we're overplaying this 'make or break' situation. We could win all our games this month and still end up cup-less and outside the top four when the time comes. So is it really that make or break?

What we need to do is just keep going, expect some bumps along the way, but ultimately when all the top six games are over by end of February put together a winning run finish. With all our players fit again by then, and only one game a week, there is no reason for panic.

said similar earlier. We also have the best record in top 6 clashes so no panic yet!