Two Up, Two Down: What were the positives & negatives from Sunderland's win over Pompey?

Yesterday at 01:00 AM

What were the big positives and negatives from Sunderland's performance on Sunday? We take a look back...

Ian Bendelow says...

Sunderland rubber stamp a new way of playing

In moving to a two up top system Regis Le Bris has solved one conundrum - namely how do you get the best out of both Elizer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor? There is no doubt they are flourishing playing together. The former's pass for the latter for the only goal of the game was perfectly timed and weighted, and there are signs of a really promising partnership.

What it has also done is provide opposition managers with their own conundrum - namely how do you deal with their pace and power? It is not one easily solved; as the season progresses teams tend to work others out, but the fact Sunderland can morph into a whole different proposition is hugely beneficial to their prospects. You wouldn't want to be Scott Parker right now.

What this means for Sunderland's midfield three, well, time will tell. One thing it could do is afford Chris Rigg a rest from time to time, something which will prevent fatigue and benefit him as a result.

Mayenda continues to be a high profile presence

Which is a really good thing - it would be understandable for a young boy in his first full season of professional football to duck the responsibility that has been placed on his shoulders. He's stepped up without a doubt; on Sunday he was always looking for the ball, constantly wanting to be involved and affect the game positively. Sure, things didn't always come off for him but that's part of his development, and his high profile misses have been shrugged aside. Sheffield United fans were full of praise for him post-New Year's Day and rightly so, Portsmouth supporters should be saying the same.

The defence doesn't appear to be on the same wavelength

It's a funny thing to say following a clean sheet but it felt like this throughout. It wasn't a convincing defensive performance at all. I'll admit, maybe it was nerves, the tension of not adding to a single goal lead can do funny things to the ticker and brain but the back four seemed to be a little hesitant throughout.

The clean sheets have returned, though this follows a spate of matches where Sunderland conceded some really bad goals. Let's hope this is the start of another run of shutouts - this team is going to need them.

Playing out from the back

I'm not saying for one minute don't do it - but if you are going to do it, do it right. That wasn't the case against Portsmouth and to be honest it's been like this for a little while. Again, this could come down to anxiety, but when you see Anthony Patterson essentially dribbling along the goal line for the second game in a row, so wedded is he to idea of finding a short pass, you have to wonder: is it through luck or design that we haven't conceded an absolute clanger up to this point?

It offers huge benefits, of course it does. This is a side who have been called the best in transition in the league - and I think that's right. But there's a trade off between this and ceding possession through either a hospital pass directly to the opposition, or a pitched ball to Alese's head, which invariably ends out of play. Sunderland are turned over in possession far too often like this, and good sides will punish them eventually.

Calum Mills says...

Wilson on the mark

Wilson Isidor was on target again following an assist from his strike partner, Eliezer Mayenda! The pair of them could've had two or three goals each if their shooting boots weren't still cold from the bad weather.

Breathing space

A clean sheet, another win at home and a break from league action coming up. The lads have deserved a break from the hectic festive fixture list and going into a likely two-day rest, doing it off the back of a win and clean sheet will be all the more sweeter.

Not clinical enough

We absolutely should've been putting four or five past them - a mix of poor finishing and good defending. Instead of getting to the last five minutes of a winnable game with a very narrow advantage, a buffer of two to three goals should've been the very least at which we had.

Seeing the game out

Our game management comes into question, again. There was desperate defending and moments of unnecessary anxiety against a team of ten men. Portsmouth made a game of it and made changes across the pitch to affect the game and get something out of it!

John Wilson says...

Back to back wins

We're back on the winning road with two home wins, which keep us within 3 points of first-placed Leeds. A great way to start the new year.

Two up front

For me, the two attackers worked well again. I'm not sure that it should be used every game, but as a Plan B - it's an excellent option. What we might lose in midfield, is more than outweighed by our attacking threat, which has the opposition always on edge. Isidor was sharp all game.

Killing them off

This has been a problem all season for me. We don't seem to be able to go for the jugular and kill a team off. Against 10 men for half an hour, over 20 shots, and we still manage to create a squeaky bum time for ourselves at the end.

Casual

One of the reasons the above 'squeaky bum time' occurs, apart from poor finishing, is that some players almost become visibly casual when they think we're easily going to win. They lack urgency. Passing becomes slack. They're always second to the ball. Pompey could easily have nicked it at the end - and that WOULD have been frustrating!