Talking Tactics: Sunderland stumble after a midfield misfire

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Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

The Lads spurned a chance to thrust themselves into the automatic promotion race against the bottom-of-the-table Pilgrims. Dan Harrison looks at what went wrong for Régis Le Bris on Saturday

In a weekend of Championship slip-ups, Sunderland found themselves tripping on the proverbial banana skin, failing to seize the chance to pull themselves to within touching distance of the leading pack after a disappointing 2-2 draw with Plymouth Argyle.

How did Régis Le Bris get this one wrong from a tactical perspective and ultimately cost his side the chance to really cement themselves in the automatic promotion race?


Sunderland lineup

Following a dogged 0-1 away win at Derby County, Le Bris opted to make two changes to his side in order to provide minutes ahead of some busy upcoming weeks.

Salis Abdul Samed and Patrick Roberts came in to replace Chris Rigg and Eliezer Mayenda respectively, with a change of shape and the addition of an extra midfielder to combat much of the game being played in front of the ball.

Sunderland switched back to 4-3-3 when in possession, with Samed acting as a true defensive midfielder and allowing both Jobe and Dan Neil to occupy the half-spaces further forward — with this being only one of a handful of times Neil has been given creative licence this season.

Out of possession, the usual 4-4-2 shape was deployed but in the absence of Rigg, Jobe was tasked with pushing up alongside Isidor to lead the press when we didn't have the ball.

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Sunderland Line-Up v Plymouth (H)

Plymouth lineup

After a midweek mauling against Burnley at Home Park, Miron Muslic needed to avoid the same fate here and therefore opted for an incredibly tight and defensive lineup, as keeping the score down was the one and only concern for Plymouth on Wearside.

The league's lowest away scorers, with just three so far this season, made five changes from that side, which saw all attacking threats removed by Muslic, with Michael Baidoo, Rami Al Hajj, Darko Gyabi and Nathanael Ogbeta all making way, as well as a change in goal, with Conor Hazard returning between the sticks.

Despite the graphics suggesting that a 4-2-3-1 was played, Plymouth set up in a 5-4-1 system from the outset, with Ryan Hardie often the only player level with the ball and the remaining players set within their nine-man compact shape.

To Plymouth's credit, their second half performance was much improved.

Muslic switched to 4-2-3-1 with the introduction of his attacking players and given that we'd disrupted their natural team shape to try and protect the lead, Plymouth were unlucky to only come away with a point.

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Plymouth Line-Up (H)

A slow Sunderland start

For anyone who's played football at a competitive level, the first rule following a hefty defeat is to keep things tight and quiet.

Every player loses confidence when they've been on the end of hammering and therefore nobody expected Plymouth to come out and challenge us early on. With this in mind, the onus was on Sunderland to unlock the resilient visiting defence.

Retaining over 77.5% of the first half possession resulted in a very pedestrian affair which saw few opportunities of genuine quality created.

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Sunderland v Plymouth 1st Half

'Samed in the six'

I'm the first to admit that Salis Abdul Samed is a player I admire greatly and although it was nice to see him get his first start for Sunderland, a home game against such opposition probably wasn't the place to do it — as ironic as that sounds.

Whist I appreciate that Samed required minutes to get him up to speed and that a home game seemed like the perfect scenario, the deployment of a true holding midfielder against a side who had no desire to attack was our undoing during the first period.

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Sunderland Passing Maps

As you can see from the graphic above, his passing was pinpoint and despite dominating the ball, he still managed nine recoveries during his time on the field.

The issue with playing a defensive midfielder was that our natural position often meant that Samed was left in the way of his teammates and therefore acted as a hindrance more than a help.

With both Sunderland centre backs capable of progressing the ball comfortably into the opposition's half, Samed was often left standing between the two with little to do but orchestrate and direct the passes around him.

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Sunderland Passing Network

With Sunderland so used to operating with a makeshift defensive midfielder as the anchor, our centre back pairing are used to progressing the ball into the space ahead of them and squeeze together, whilst Dan Neil would advance into a more forward area, allowing for quick zipped passes into Jobe or Rigg to take on the half-turn.

However, with Samed screening the space shown, he often acted as an additional body, which slowed the tempo of the game even further.

@DanHarrison26
Sunderland Shape v Plymouth Argyle

I'm a big advocate of what Samed brings to the table and I think that in away games against top sides like Leeds, when the game is being played in front of him, he can be a real asset with his ability to anticipate danger, make crucial interceptions and recycle the ball under pressure.

However, this wasn't the game for him.


Sunderland get hit on the break

As the second half commenced, it was clear that Le Bris had instructed his players to apply the pressure.

Within minutes, we had a flurry of opportunities to finally break the deadlock, and quick blocks from flying Plymouth defenders denied Patrick Roberts and Dennis Cirkin before the visitors fired their warning shot.

Whilst in the first half, Hardie was left to aimlessly chase clearances as the only Argyle player not inside his own final third, as Sunderland began to overload their full backs, Plymouth saw an opportunity to counter and Mustapha Bundu whipped a teasing ball in, only for Hardie to glance just wide.

@BeGriffis
Sunderland v Plymouth Game Control

Minutes later, we were again exposed on the break due to both Cirkin and Trai Hume advancing well beyond the halfway line, and just like that, the side who'd not looked like scoring in a week of Christmases found themselves 0-1 up.

Plymouth were able to create opportunities for themselves — not through quick interchanges of play, but from winning second contacts and pouncing on loose touches from Sunderland defenders.


Sunderland lose their shape

Following a quickfire double courtesy of Hume and Wilson Isidor, normal service was resumed and we looked to have rectified our defensive mistakes with only twenty minutes remaining.

Having switched to a 4-4-2 in the process of trying to obtain the equaliser, Le Bris was left with an awkward decision about how best to close out the game.

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Sunderland Defensive Actions v Plymouth

Having remembered how his team remained too aggressive against Millwall but too cautious against Coventry City, he opted to remove Cirkin in favour of an additional central defender and Roberts in place of an extra midfielder to shore up his side.

Just as Sunderland mirrored the shape of Plymouth in a 5-4-1, Muslic had Le Bris' number and switched his own shape to Sunderland's 4-3-3 in an attempt to claw back a point.

Consequently, the roles were reversed and suddenly the midfield overload that had made us so dominant in possession throughout the game was void, and pressure was invited by the hosts.

In a desperate move, Le Bris decided to remove Isidor and make his side even more compact by introducing Leo Hjelde and essentially creating a '5-5-0' shape, with Rigg, Neil and Jobe sitting in a compact triangle and Eliezer Mayenda and Enzo Le Fée backing up their wing backs for the final few minutes.

As an aerial bombardment rained down on the Sunderland penalty area, the outcome looked inevitable and we eventually found ourselves picking the ball out of the net once more.

Photo by Isabelle Field/Plymouth Argyle via Getty Images

Zonal marking with three central defenders

On several occasions this season, Le Bris has been prone to utilising a 5-4-1 shape when looking to close out games and it's often worked led to varying levels of success.

As is often the case when fielding three central defenders, a zonal system is required when dealing with duels.

During 2024/2025, we've often been guilty of looking incoherent as a trio. This has often resulted in multiple players challenging for one ball, which ultimately led to Plymouth's equaliser.

Whilst it's not utilised very often, it's clear that it's something we need to work more on in training should we want to continue to deploy it in future matches.

Photo by Isabelle Field/Plymouth Argyle via Getty Images

Onwards to Middlesbrough!

Although Saturday felt more like a defeat than a draw, we remained unbeaten at home and can count ourselves lucky that a performance this poor came against a side who didn't punish us more severely.

With eight days of rest ahead of the short trip down the A19 for the return of the 'OK Diner Derby', I'm sure Le Bris will have privately admitted to getting things wrong, and the Lads can only look to dust themselves off and go again next week.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

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