Could changes be in the offing for Sunderland's meeting with Middlesbrough?

09/17/2024 12:00 AM

After the Lads suffered their first league defeat of the season against Plymouth, should Régis Le Bris freshen things up for this weekend's Wear-Tees clash?

Andrew Smithson says...

I'd normally be wary of making alterations on the back of just one defeat, particularly when Sunderland played well against Plymouth Argyle in the first half and were arguably worth a draw, but we have so many options in reserve that I suppose it's inevitable that changes will be made as the season goes on.

Strength in depth can be a massive advantage at Championship level and nowadays, it's much more common for a coach to switch things around to suit a particular opponent.

In the case of Middlesbrough, a clash with an extra edge, that might mean the introduction of a couple of wiser heads and Chris Mepham and Alan Browne certainly fit into that category.

The pair of them have international experience and will have come here expecting to be more than bench warmers, so would presumably be well up for playing in front of a big crowd.

Of the two, Browne might be harder to justify bringing in, simply because it potentially means additional tinkering elsewhere in midfield to accommodate him, but I'd have no doubt that he would still slot in and be up to speed from the off, and his performances so far would suggest that he'll prove to be an excellent signing after all.

As for Mepham, with Dan Ballard looking doubtful, you can't ask for much more than to have a Premier League-level replacement waiting in the wings and he must surely be lined up for a debut, given the circumstances.

It would be a pretty straightforward 'like for like' decision and if made early in the week, it would allow Règis Le Bris and his staff time to work on the back four as a unit and organise it accordingly.

I'd be confident that either one of them, or both, would get on perfectly fine this weekend. The challenge for them would be to then make those starting spots their own, as competition for places can only drive the team on.

Not only would they need to be better than those they replace, but there'll be other suitors too. When you look at Salis Abdul Samed's pedigree, for example, you can't fail to be impressed, and anybody who's getting a game right now will be fully aware of the need to be fully firing.

Malc Dugdale says...

This weekend is going to be about steadying the ship after a disappointing trip to the South West

We need to draw a line under that result and performance, and we certainly don't want to allow our initial momentum to take a double hit when facing the Smoggies this weekend.

There were a number of individual errors which notably impacted us against Argyle, but the simple truth was that we didn't play anywhere near as well as we had during the first four fixtures.

However, you learn more from losing than winning, so we have to use this defeat to fuel improvements.

After a poor away showing and a handful of new players chomping at the bit to get a chance, I wouldn't be surprised to see both Chris Mepham and Alan Browne get a start.

Mepham is a very experienced centre back- unlike many of his team mates- who has just under fifty international caps to his name.

There's some risk in bringing him in, especially for a game against Middlesbrough, which will have some needle to say the least, but with the errors from our back line which contributed to our first loss and the fact that Dan Ballard seemed to hobble off very uncomfortably, I think Mepham will get his first start.

Against Plymouth, Dan Neil was given his starting berth back after his suspension, but for me, the midfield was quite dysfunctional at times.

Getting Browne in there to put his foot on it and to manage the game may have been a good idea whether we lost the last one or not, but I'm not sure who will be dropped, though. Neil is the skipper but we looked very good without him before the international pause, so there are some tough calls ahead for Régis Le Bris.

With every challenge, there's an opportunity to improve and given the injury issues and the less-than-convincing trip to Home Park, this could well be a chance for both of these players and others to stake a claim for a longer-term starting shirt.

Whatever or whoever we decide to put out there, we need to at least draw, and ideally we need a victory to make the trip down south a blip, rather than a crack in our facade which could grow and extend.

Tom Albrighton says...

For me, Saturday was a freak event and certainly nothing to panic about.

Nobody will be happy with the loss to Plymouth but there were a lot of mitigating factors behind it and plentiful lessons to be learned for Régis Le Bris.

On the whole, not many players covered themselves in glory, with only Romaine Mundle shining above others. In terms of changes, one would argue the only ones needing to be made should be made as a matter of necessity.

This isn't to say that lessons can't and shouldn't be learned from the weekend, but given Le Bris' fastidious approach to the game, he should be given the benefit of the doubt in relation to combating the areas for concern seen at Plymouth.

As it stands, with twelve points from five games, there's no need for concern or panic, nor should there be from a team who are fully deserving of their current place in the top two.