{"id":18856,"date":"2025-04-14T09:33:18","date_gmt":"2025-04-14T09:33:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/18856\/"},"modified":"2025-04-14T09:33:18","modified_gmt":"2025-04-14T09:33:18","slug":"two-up-two-down-our-writers-react-to-sunderlands-defeat-to-swansea-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/18856\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Up, Two Down: Our writers react to Sunderland\u2019s defeat to Swansea City"},"content":{"rendered":"

Calum Mills says\u2026<\/strong>
\nZero positives<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2026<\/p>\n

Sunderland\u2019s tactics<\/strong><\/p>\n

Abysmal from start to finish and if this is how we\u2019re planning on playing during the playoffs, we\u2019ll get walked over. <\/p>\n

There was absolutely zero attacking intent from us and we only looked to do anything positive after we went a goal down, but up until then we were happy seeing out a bore 0-0 draw. <\/p>\n

To some fans, that might be alright as I\u2019ve seen replies on articles this week accepting that not conceding or losing is good for morale \u2014 but it isn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

The fans left short changed<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mathematically, we have a chance to go up automatically \u2014 albeit an outrageously slim one \u2014 but before kick off and with our position in the playoffs guaranteed, we should\u2019ve been going out and trying to tear Swansea apart. <\/p>\n

Instead, we went down without a whimper, and passing sideways or backwards to Patterson is just grim to watch. Players were just coasting through the game and trying to get to half time or full time unscathed or with a point in their pockets.<\/p>\n

Fans had travelled from around the world and were watching in their respective countries \u2014myself included \u2014 and we witnessed an absolute s**t show. Honestly, my concerns for the playoffs and the manner we\u2019re approaching them are justified.<\/p>\n

Awful, awful performance.<\/p>\n

\"Sunderland<\/p>\n

Photo by Athena Pictures\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

John Wilson says\u2026<\/strong>
\nSome justified rotation<\/strong><\/p>\n

You could argue that it\u2019s a very measured and calculated approach to the playoffs. <\/p>\n

International Fans\u2019 Day delivers<\/strong><\/p>\n

A proud initiative and a great weekend for our fans around the world. <\/p>\n

A sunny day, but a pity the game was disappointing. <\/p>\n

Slow, slower, slowest from Sunderland<\/strong><\/p>\n

Playing across the back is tedious, slow and predictable. <\/p>\n

Roy Keane said that something\u2019s not right when the centre backs have more touches of the ball than the skilled players further up the pitch, and he\u2019s not wrong.<\/p>\n

A dull and lifeless display<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve discussed to death the best approach to closing our season. <\/p>\n

We all know what\u2019s going on and that we\u2019re trying to protect players and keep everyone ticking over, but especially on International Fans\u2019 Day, it isn\u2019t fair on those who come to enjoy a game and are served that tripe.<\/p>\n

Lars Knutsen says\u2026<\/strong>
\nMinutes for young players<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are no easy games in the Championship and this fact was illustrated very starkly. <\/p>\n

Swansea did rain on our International Fans\u2019 Day parade but this was a great run out for Harrison Jones and Tommy Watson, as well as Enzo Le F\u00e9e getting some valuable game time. <\/p>\n

With Jobe absent, this wasn\u2019t our strongest team but despite the result it\u2019s clear that we\u2019re planning for the playoffs \u2014 which we\u2019ve qualified for on merit. <\/p>\n

This defeat didn\u2019t help, but we need to learn from such lows.<\/p>\n

A successful International Fans\u2019 Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one event that emerged from our four years of exile in the third tier and I was present at the inaugural game versus Ipswich which we won 1-0 just over five years ago. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re spectacular occasions and they show that we do have a huge international following \u2014 and not just because of the Netflix series. <\/p>\n

This all bodes well for match atmosphere and general feelgood positivity if we do make it to the Premier League next season.<\/p>\n

Signs of sloppiness<\/strong> <\/p>\n

Early on, we didn\u2019t respond well to the high back line and upfield press by Swansea. We gave the ball away a few times, notably in the sixteenth minute when Lewis O\u2019Brien missed a good chance. <\/p>\n

Some sloppiness has crept into our side, which needs to be cut out. This was also illustrated during their goal build up, which was really just a half-chance from a rebound off the bar. <\/p>\n

Until that Swansea goal, I felt Anthony Patterson had shown confident handling, but he reacted badly to the follow up.<\/p>\n

Another blank for Wilson Isidor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isidor was just slightly mistiming his runs and often being caught offside. <\/p>\n

Both he and Patrick Roberts were a bit off colour and not quite clicking in their interplay, but the opposite was true of Dan Neil, who showed again what a reliable performer he now is as captain. <\/p>\n

This game, the home defeat to Hull and the stuttering performance versus Preston have me worried that we\u2019re being found out \u2014 at least at home \u2014 but we\u2019re playing well away from the Stadium of Light so that may be our salvation, and especially if we make it to Wembley.<\/p>\n

\"Sunderland<\/p>\n

Photo by Michael Driver | MI News\/NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Tom Albrighton says\u2026<\/strong>
\nA fairly meaningless defeat\u2026if that\u2019s possible<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like many there yesterday, it\u2019s impossible to get worked up over whatever that was, but it\u2019s a real worry how dull we\u2019ve become in recent months. <\/p>\n

If there was to be a positive, it was perhaps another reminder that this new-fangled, over-coached, insipid, slow-paced tippy tappy nonsense doesn\u2019t bring out the best in anyone<\/p>\n

Some tragicomic officiating<\/strong><\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve said before, yesterday was utterly dull but as the sun disappeared behind the clouds, a new star shone in the form of the officiating teams. <\/p>\n

I can only assume such a performance was pre-planned on the proviso of providing some comic relief in a dead rubber classic.<\/p>\n

No style or substance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Touched on above, but this style really doesn\u2019t suit us at all. <\/p>\n

The complete abandonment of almost all the qualities that had the fans bouncing and appreciation from teams aplenty has been bizarre and I can\u2019t help but feel the mid-season switch of coaching staff may well be a reason.<\/p>\n

Whilst coincidence is not causation, it\u2019s been presided on and subsequently continued without change for long enough. Over the years, I\u2019ve seen far worse football, but I\u2019ve not seen much as boring as this.<\/p>\n

Poor game management from R\u00e9gis Le Bris<\/strong><\/p>\n

It seems as though it doesn\u2019t matter who Le Bris brings on, he just can\u2019t change games. <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know whether this is a new \u2018Sunderland curse\u2019 but it\u2019s of going concern that you can count on one hand how many times Le Bris has made a substitution and the effect has been a positive one. <\/p>\n

With the playoffs looming, that worry only worsens when you consider ties can well be won on the back of positive substitutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Calum Mills says\u2026 Zero positives \u2026 Sunderland\u2019s tactics Abysmal from start to finish and if this is how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18857,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2737,12456,12452,163,13,12,12453,12455,2963,2962,12457,2955,2958,1148,6093,14,12451,9987,12454],"class_list":{"0":"post-18856","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-city","9":"tag-defeat","10":"tag-down","11":"tag-front-page","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-our","15":"tag-react","16":"tag-report","17":"tag-roker","18":"tag-roker-roundtable","19":"tag-s","20":"tag-sunderland","21":"tag-swansea","22":"tag-to","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-two","25":"tag-up","26":"tag-writers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114335632846478292","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18856"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18856\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}