Patrick Roberts and Romaine Mundle are essential to Sunderland’s strategy.
The importance of Patrick Roberts and Romaine Mundle to Sunderland was made very clear on Wednesday night in Preston.
Naturally, it’s crucial to use the team and not rely too much on any one person.
And it made sense to bring in Tommy Watson and Aaron Connelly amid a busy week, especially with Saturday’s home match against managerless Coventry City looming large—Mark Robins was fired yesterday. Players must be brought up to speed, and it’s easiest to do that away from home if you’re going to forgo style in favour of consistency.
But let’s not act as though we don’t know the reason why, in Luke O’Nien’s words, Regis Le Bris’ team “lacked the flow” of earlier performances. By playing with breadth, creating exciting football, scoring goals, and creating opportunities, Sunderland swept to the top of the Championship.
Roberts and Mundle, twin tormentors, are essential to that strategy. When the squad is under strain, they also provide a release.
That was just not present at Preston. Undoubtedly, the absence of suspended Jobe Belllingham also had an impact, but it’s puzzling that Le Bris decided to exclude Roberts and Mundle. The fact that the Black Cats began playing when they entered the game in the 60th minute was no accident.
Before the game, Le Bris had discussed the “three-man triangle” of Roberts, Chris Rigg, and Trai Hume. When Rigg was injured and missed QPR, Le Bris remarked, “When one of the three elements is missing it makes a difference.” They had played so well together.
Le Bris chose to omit one of those three crucial components down the Black Cats’ right, but Rigg returned.
The statement made by O’Nien that the team needed to consider how Sunderland climbed to the top of the table was intriguing. It has a lot to do with starting with their top players.
For whatever reason, failing to do so greatly impairs your capacity to attack the circumstance and necessitates improvisation. It would be like showing up at a golf event without a driver, three-wood, and putter in your bag.
The team’s record of clean sheets is a plus, albeit that was partially due to Preston’s subpar finishing rather than Lancashire’s strong defence.
Dan Ballard’s time on the sidelines following his injury recovery may therefore be extended. The club would become defensively unstable if O’Nien or Chris Mepham were dropped, and since they haven’t scored in the previous two games, there would be problems on both ends of the field.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE
