A 1-0 deficit isn't the end of the world, we can certainly feel a lot better than Bristol City will, and whilst we go to the SoL for a one match shoot-out still in the tie, there are some serious lessons we need to take from this game.
Sunderland tactically did us tonight. They were happy to let us have the ball and attack, knowing we would do very little when we did. They picked their moments and looked pretty dangerous when they did.
Aside from the MvE fuck up, Sheaf causied us massive problems. He keept jaunting forward thinking he can help up front, and in doing so left a massive gap for the Sunderland attacking players. It would be alright if he could offer something in the forward areas, but he can't, and he weighs down our attacking threat significantly. It means we just slop around slowly with very little execution. They're a big threat on the counter attack, and we got sucker-punched by not being smart enough when we needed to be.
BTA is not a target man and it wasn't working with him playing up front on his own. Wright was probably just a bit off today, but was extremely poor. Really we should expect more offensive success, but it was a bit limp and that also cost us.
You have to give credit for the quick reaction, which is exactly what we needed at the time. Grimes was immense and basically did the midfield on his own. The rest of the defence were pretty good (for the most part) I thought too, and Saka put in a shift.
All to play for next week, and we can do it. I think we need to shift our tactics a bit though. Some personnel changes too. EMC and Allen need to come in for BTA and Sheaf respectively. We cannot set up the same way and expect a different outcome.
We have to go there and win. Spare no horses now. Sleep well SBA.
