Talking Points: Sunderland win ugly against Pompey

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

The Mackems made hard work of defeating Portsmouth but a win is a win, and we now have a cup game and way less fixture congestion as we regroup for the big push.

The creation was there, but we lacked a killer edge

The Lads got the result and created a lot with good passing and movement right from the off, but it has to be said that against a side that regularly let in 3 goals on the road, we struggled to get a second never mind a third.

Even before the Pompey player was sent off around the 70 minute mark, we created many chances but failed to convert them. All of Mayenda, Roberts, Alese, O'Nien, Hume and Aouchiche could have done better with chances, and Isidor was unlucky to not score more, especially with the curled shot he put just over the top corner right angle around the 65th minute, and the narrowly offside goal he did score a few minutes before half time, only for the flag to go up.

If we were not creating the chances as we did I would be more concerned but we did that bit, we just didn't manage to force them into the net. This deserves some credit to Portsmouth who defended erratically for the goal but well at other times, especially the clearances on the line from Roberts and Mayenda's chances, and the period of twenty minutes plus when they had a man less to work with.

We battered them 1-0, so we take the 3 points and move on to the next one.

Patterson is taking more chances than we need to at times, and his distribution needs work

I have mentioned in the RR chats a few times in the last few weeks that Anthony Patterson's distribution needs some improvement, and he was again very lucky not to let Pompey back into the game with a gift of a leveller.

He almost gave the ball away just before the quarter-hour point, and he drilled the ball straight to a Portsmouth player at around 50 minutes. We got away with both, but we shouldn't have needed to.

If this was a one off it could be ignored more easily, but he has developed a habit of risking giving the ball away cheaply, leading to real chances from nothing for opponents. His dribbling around the 6 yard box a bit more than many are comfortable with has had my nerves on edge a few times across the busy period we have navigated.

There will come an occasion when this bites him on the arse and he needs to sort this out. I am not suggesting we drop him, but a coaching focus is needed as we rest him and others for the cup game for sure.

Every point is critical as we approach the business end of the season and though he is a cracking keeper in general terms who kept a clean sheet, his passing and risk taking need a bit of a chat for me.

Isidor is a dream striker, and should have had two or more goals

Wilson was absolutely a joy to watch, and the way he took both his goals (one of which was marginally offside, something which will be debated in the pubs this evening) bodes well for him being that striker who gets 15-20 goals for us this season.

His pace was electric, his control impeccable, and he also put opportunities on a plate for others more than once in this game. The lad has a great attitude, is loved by the fans and loves them back with interest, and assuming we do pay the €4m to sign him permanently, he is another massive find by the recruitment team.

My only criticism of the young striker was the chance in the second half, when a cross came to him and he tried to volley it shoulder height into the goal - he probably had time and space to bring it down and drill it at what was a very shaky goalie in a more a controlled way.

If he was perfect we would not have signed him, but the lad is not far from that, and with a rub of the green he could be carrying a match ball around the bars of Sunderland right now. That said, we simply have to rest him and a lot of the lads for this cup game as if we lose any more players to avoidable injuries, our campaign could well be over.

New faces continue to impress

While the number of goals we scored should have been higher, the contribution from some of the less established players was again significant. The main man to call out for this in my view was Adil Aouchiche, who terrorised their full back for at least an hour, and when he started to fade in the final 15 minutes, his stand in Milan Aleksic looked every bit as good.

I noted down key involvements in play from Adil on the 19th, 24th, 35th, 52nd, 75th and 77th minutes, and there were other factors to his play too.

When Milan came on, as he did when he started against Stoke, he looked quick, skillful and composed on the ball, and without even making a signing this month it feels like we already have new talents to help the squad.

With the impending arrival of several players from injury and the ascendancy of Adil and Milan, we can take our time in the January market and in the treatment room, which gives us some comfort given the injuries we have had to make our way through.

What next?

While a good cup run may be interesting for some, I would rather we rotate significantly for yet another Stoke game, and get the lads rested and ready for the upcoming league games to come.

We have a top of the table clash against Burnley to plan for next league game on Friday evening the 17th of January, and we also face all of Boro, Watford and Leeds between the cup game and the middle of February.

There's a long way to go yet, and we have some tasty fixtures we should win in and around those above, but the focus absolutely needs to stick with improving a few of our key areas, winning at home and getting draws or better away, and looking to nick one of the two top spots as soon as we can.

Sunday's result, despite being a narrow and ugly win takes us 3 points away from Leeds at the top. If we can beat Burnley we could well swap places with them if other results go our way.

It's all there to play for, which is the main thing to remember thanks to a gritty but less significant win than we hoped for at the SOL.