Does Patrick Roberts slow the game down? Do Sunderland look better playing through balls? YOUR questions after Sunderland 3-1 Plymouth Argyle
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00:00 Hello and welcome to the latest edition of On The Whistle from the Sunderland Echo YouTube
00:14 where I take some of your questions at full time and also just give you my thoughts on
00:18 the game and a little bit of insight from the post-match press conference as well. As
00:21 you can see it's just me this week, hopefully we'll be back with James in the near future
00:25 but we'll crack straight on. I thought it was a really important win for Sunderland
00:29 today. I think at half time I was quite worried about where the performance was going. I thought
00:33 that for all, Sunderland had dominated possession. I don't think you could really argue that
00:36 Plymouth deserved their lead. I thought that they had the better chances, they looked a
00:40 threat on the break and Sunderland looked really laboured. Really brutally honest press
00:44 conference there from Michael Beale just talking about how the fact that his team had been
00:48 nowhere near good enough, said he could have made five substitutions at the break. His
00:52 message to the players at half time was very much to get on the front foot, to excite the
00:57 crowd, to run forward, to be braver and to sharpen up and to be fair. I thought that
01:02 was a huge second half for Beale because that was the best football we've seen from Sunderland.
01:05 Not just in Beale's tenure but actually probably for a good few weeks before that as well.
01:09 Some really good performances. Not only that but I thought Beale's changes were fantastic.
01:13 Introduced Job exactly at the right time, went and got his goal with pretty much his
01:18 first touch. Got Mundell his first taste of action in a Sunderland shirt at a really opportune
01:23 moment. Chris Rigg, good to see him as well. Beale was mixed emotions I think it would
01:28 be fair to say in his press conference. He did say that he was really pleased with the
01:31 second half but that's the benchmark and that's what Sunderland need to take forward. He was
01:36 also really, I think it's fair to say, really emotional but really grateful for the support
01:40 the fans showed him. I think everyone knows Michael's niece Poppy, four years old, is
01:46 fighting leukaemia and fans came together with a really moving minute's applause to
01:49 send support to Poppy and Michael Beale and his family. I know that was something that
01:53 really moved him so that was a really special thing to witness. Get well soon Poppy.
01:59 We heard from the Plymouth boss Ian Foster as well who had a lot of praise actually for
02:04 Sunderland and what they did in the second half, especially the individual quality of
02:06 players like Jack Clarke. He did say he was very frustrated with the refereeing. He felt
02:11 it was very harsh in terms of some of the fouls that were given on the edge of the box
02:15 to Sunderland. Pierre Requard's equal obviously came from that. I think he was more than frustrated
02:20 that his team were actually down to ten men when Jack Clarke scored the goal. He felt
02:24 that the 30 seconds had passed and so his player who was on the sideline having received
02:28 treatment should have been able to come back on. Having said that, I would say that he
02:32 didn't make excuses either. I think Sunderland were clearly the better side in that second
02:35 half and really deserved that.
02:38 Just got a couple of questions from you which we'll do before we leave you, if I can find
02:42 them that is. The Boy Jones says, "Do Sunderland look better playing through balls?" I think
02:48 one of the most encouraging things for me, and I think that's a really good point, is
02:51 that although he didn't get a goal and he didn't actually have many chances, I thought
02:53 that was Nazari Russen's best all-round performance actually probably since he came to the club.
02:59 He's always had a good work ethic since he's come in. He's always been a nuisance and I
03:02 think that's why fans love him. He got a huge ovation when he came off the pitch. What was
03:06 really pleasing to hear was that I thought he was the most involved. Players were finding
03:09 him earlier, he was holding the ball up, he was making good runs into the channel, winning
03:12 set plays, winning corners. I think you can start to see that even if the language barrier
03:16 is still a bit of an issue for him, he's making huge improvements and I think that's really
03:21 encouraging moving forward. He's starting to look like a real threat and I think he
03:24 deserves a lot of credit and I also think Bale deserves credit as well for the way that
03:28 he's integrating him.
03:29 Let's have a look and see what other questions we've got. We had one on Facebook from Gary
03:34 who talks about Patrick Roberts. A bit frustrated I think that Roberts may be slowing the game
03:38 down. I thought Roberts did okay actually today. I thought it was a funny old game,
03:43 we've talked so much about Roberts not being able to beat the nothing goals and assists.
03:46 Well he got an assist today, albeit it was a two-yard pass that PR Ekko then rifled into
03:50 the bottom corner. So stats aren't everything I guess. I think it's huge to have Roberts
03:54 back. I'm not totally convinced that Barr playing as a 10 worked. I know that's Barr's
03:58 preferred position but I think he brings the team out wide where he can get players one
04:02 on one and he can get the byline and dribble. I think it's natural that Roberts is going
04:06 to take a little bit of time to get up to match fitness. I actually think that although
04:09 he hasn't got those goals and assists this season, I think he's still playing well and
04:12 Bale actually mentioned in his press conference that it's really important to have him back
04:15 and I think you could see that at times. So I think it's all good signs for Sunderland
04:19 really in terms of the depth that you need and hopefully moving forward we can see Roberts
04:25 contributing even more goals and assists on top of today.
04:29 My old team mate Johnny Sherban has said, "Chris Rigg and Jobe wearing the new Predator
04:33 boots. Coincidence?" Well I thought Jobe looked fantastic David when he came on. I
04:39 mean a lot of talk has been there about Jobe and his best position and at times he's looked
04:42 really good as a centre forward, at times he's looked good as a 10. I think Jobe's always
04:46 said and some of them have always felt that his best performances are going to be as a
04:49 box to box number 8 and the game was perfect from David. Really good sub to bring him on.
04:53 Bale deserves a lot of credit for that. The game was stretching and you could see just
04:56 the chance to play against tired legs and the chance to run into space. He looked a
05:00 completely different player. So that was really, really encouraging from a Sunderland perspective.
05:03 We also spoke with Bale about his changes after the game. He said it wasn't a reflection
05:07 of performances, it wasn't necessarily a tactical decision although he wanted to go really attacking
05:10 which is why Bale played. It was essentially pre-planned. He was going to bring Ecuador
05:14 off after an hour if the game allowed it. He was going to give Jobe a rest because there's
05:18 a huge game coming up on Wednesday and then another away game on Saturday. So I think
05:22 it's very much about managing the squad. I think a lot of Sunderland fans have been absolutely
05:26 delighted with Jobe's performances since he came but felt he was crying out for a bit
05:29 of a rest and I agreed with that. I think we saw today that he really benefited from
05:34 a little bit of freshness in his own game but having the chance to go up against some
05:37 tired legs and show what he's all about. His athleticism is incredible.
05:41 So yeah, there we go. That's it for another week. Thanks for everyone who sent your questions
05:44 and comments in. I will be back on Wednesday night. Hopefully I'll have someone alongside
05:48 me but we'll wait and see. Thanks very much for watching as ever and Wednesday night full
05:53 time, next Saturday full time. Get your questions and comments in for the next edition of On
05:56 The Whistle. Thanks for watching.
05:57 [END]
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