Phil is back to answer questions from Sunderland fans after the 2-1 win over CD Eldense on Sunday evening
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00:00Good evening everyone, welcome to the final edition of On The Whistle from my trip out
00:15of Spain. Apologies, I must look incredibly tired, I certainly feel it, but I know that
00:20you won't judge me. So we're going to chat about Sunderland's Friendly with CD Aldence,
00:25which they won 2-1, thanks to an absolute screamer from Louis Hemiya. I'm trying to
00:31think about the last time I saw a Sunderland player score a goal that good in the flesh.
00:36You know, obviously there's like the Reading goal, the sort of team goals under Tony Mowbray,
00:40but in terms of individual strike, I'm struggling to remember anything that good. If you can
00:45think of one, drop a comment in the comments because I'd love to hear it. It was an unbelievable
00:50strike from Hemiya. What about the game itself? Well, it was a game in a sort of a few different
00:55parts really. Regis Lebris, as we expected, changed all 11 players and you could see
01:01that Sunderland didn't have those sort of partnerships that they used to. I think before
01:05we make any assessments or comments about the players who played or the level of performance,
01:09you have to remember that there was new partnerships all over the pitch, players who've never played
01:13with each other before. It was never going to be as fluid and as convincing as it would
01:18have been when you had like the team on Friday night where most of those players have played
01:22together an awful lot.
01:24Al Dente I think caught Sunderland out a little bit to begin with. I think it was a really
01:29good opponent because they were obviously much more acclimatised to the heat. It was
01:33well over 30 degrees again this evening, absolutely boiling out here in the Costa Blanca. They
01:40had a really high press and they caught Sunderland out a few times. Sunderland got to grips with
01:44it, scored a really good goal, an amazing pass from Elie Wauschiesch. I mean, the ability
01:49that kid's got is frightening sometimes. An incredible cross-field pass, totally opened
01:55up the pitch and a really good goal from Tommy Watson, exactly what we've seen him do from
01:59the under-21s. Cut inside, only thinking about one thing, scoring a goal, absolutely fantastic
02:04to see. Hopefully he's given Lebris a little bit of something to think about there.
02:09Sunderland were playing really well, there was a little water break for whatever reason.
02:13Al Dente just came out far the stronger, completely dominated the game then for the 15 minutes
02:17up to half-time and probably the 25 minutes, half an hour after that. Sunderland just couldn't
02:22really get the ball back off them to be honest, but I was impressed with them and you could
02:26see there were some tired legs in the Sunderland ranks. Lebris changed his entire outfield.
02:30We saw, well, A, an injection of fresh legs and B, those more experienced players and
02:37they completely turned the game to be fair. Jermain won it with a wonder goal but for
02:40the last 20 minutes, Sunderland were well on top. Daniel, I thought was amazing, completely
02:45took control back of that midfield, turned away from players like they weren't there,
02:49played some lovely passes. Jack Clark looked good, he certainly pushed Al Dente back. So
02:54I thought it was a good exercise in the end. A good win. Al Dente will feel like they should
02:58have got something out of the game and they should have. I can think of four or five chances
03:02off the top of my head that they missed and Simon Moore made one good save as well when
03:05there was a little error that allowed the strike to go through one-on-one. So, yeah,
03:10good win, good test. I think we learnt a lot. Not the most convincing performance because
03:14as I've said before, I think you've got to remember A, the fact that this isn't a familiar
03:18team in terms of they're not familiar with each other and B, I think you have to remember
03:22the conditions and the fact that, understandably, Al Dente's far more comfortable with it. So
03:27let's get into your questions anyway. Thanks again for sending so many of these in. Steve
03:30Nelliot says, seems a much more meaningful tour compared to last season's trip to the
03:34US, both in terms of fitness and levels of opposition to hopefully get us up to speed
03:38quicker than when we did last season when we felt like we were playing catch-up. So
03:42I totally agree with this. I think one of the things that Tony Mowbray made clear, you
03:46might remember someone finished last pre-season with a game against Mallorca at the Stadio
03:49Mallite. Mallorca are a really good La Liga team and Mowbray basically said, you know,
03:55we needed to be playing this level of opposition sooner and I think the two opponents on this
04:00tour have been really, really strong and it's been a hugely beneficial exercise. Nottingham
04:04Forest obviously with all their Premier League quality and Al Dente, as I said, they're playing
04:09the second division Spanish tier, which is a decent standard and you could see from the
04:12fitness levels they had, from some of the technical quality they had, it was a good
04:15test for Sunderland. So I agree with you Steve and I think this sets us on and up for this
04:19season much better. The only thing I would say to your question is, it's funny to look
04:23back on those first two games that Sunderland lost last season. Well, Ipswich was a really
04:27tight game and Ipswich went on to win a lot of promotion. So actually that was a decent
04:31performance. When I interviewed Alan Brown for the first time this week, actually at
04:35the training camp, he mentioned that second game of the season where you might remember
04:39Preston beat Sunderland 1-0 at Deepdale and he said there is absolutely no way we should
04:44have beaten Sunderland. They were brilliant that day and it was one of the games that
04:47made them see the quality in Sunderland's squad that made them want the sign. So I just
04:51thought that was an interesting quirk. I actually think the main reason Sunderland lost those
04:54games was because they just didn't have enough quality in the final third of that time in
04:58the season and there's probably still a little bit of a question mark over that at the moment.
05:03But I do agree with you Stephen, some cause for optimism there.
05:14I'll be honest with you Martin, no idea where that's come from. Absolutely no suggestions
05:18of that whatsoever from within the camp or being around the group. Football's a weird
05:23thing, strange things can happen, things can change quickly but I think 0-9 will be the
05:28captain's armband this season. I think he's an absolute core player of the side. They
05:33really like his experience, his leadership within the group. I think that he brings a
05:37lot with his passing range. I know he's not everybody's cup of tea as a central defender
05:41but I think him and Ballard was probably one of the main things in the team that was sort
05:45of succeeding and working well last season. So I'll be honest with you Martin, not heard
05:50anything about a move, don't see it. He's got two years left on his deal. I think he's
05:54seen as a critical part of this team. I'd be absolutely staggered if he left funny things
05:58on football but I just don't see it Martin. I think he starts the first day of the season
06:02with the captain's armband.
06:17Mark actually asked if there was any news on the bathroom staff but I'm going to guess
06:21that was an autocorrect issue so we'll go with bathroom staff. Yeah, I spoke to Regis
06:27Lebris after the game. He didn't have a lot to say on it, I'll be completely honest. He
06:31just said that there was no significant update at the moment and that he was still speaking
06:35to potential candidates. He said that there might be some news next week or a little bit
06:39later. So I appreciate that's not a huge update for you. The one thing you can take from it
06:43is that clearly they are still going to appoint somebody, at least one person to a staff and
06:48that, by the sounds of things, is definitely going to happen before the season starts
06:51at least. But as of yet, no progress on that. So sorry that's not the most detailed answer
06:56but that's all I have for you at the moment.
07:14Quite a tricky one to answer this because I think you have to be fair to those players
07:18and as I said at the start, a lot of these guys in some cases are coming back from injuries
07:23or from seasons where they didn't play much last year so they are behind other players.
07:27In huge parts of the pitch, there was complete new partnerships. Alan Brown and Elliot Embleton
07:32have never played together. So I think, you know, Joe Anderson and Leo Hielder had never
07:36played together until 20 minutes the other night. So I think you have to put their individual
07:41performances in that context. It's a much harder environment for them to sort of impress
07:45and shine.
07:47I'm a lot more positive about the performance in some of the comments I'm getting. I'm completely
07:51understanding it and I'm not being naive in that Al Dente has obviously dominated large
07:56parts of the game but I thought there were quite a few positives. I thought Leo Hielder
07:59was promising again. I thought Joe Anderson was outstanding. Like, I don't know what's
08:03next for Joe Anderson. He obviously needs to be playing regularly. I don't know if he
08:07can play his way into the starting XI for the Championship. It's one game. We'll have
08:11to wait and see in its pre-season. Anderson was brilliant tonight. Made two huge challenges
08:17early on that stopped Al Dente from scoring. His distribution was really good. Made good
08:22decisions throughout. Really calm. I thought he was excellent to be honest. It's not me
08:27saying he should be in the starting XI for the first game of the Championship season
08:30but I was really impressed with his performance. So I would disagree to say that none of these
08:35players sort of put their hand up and impressed.
08:38Emberton's got a lot of work to do but again, I thought he looked sharp. He looked at it
08:42after a couple of dodgy moments early on. I thought he played well. Put one beautiful
08:46cross in that Rooson just couldn't get on the end of. I think that Mundell, although
08:50he's clearly at this stage, I don't think he's going to be ahead of Clark and Roberts
08:53in the pecking order. I think he looks a live wire. I think he's got qualities that I like.
08:58I think it's perfectly natural that, you know, you're going to have players who at this stage
09:03of the season are ahead of others and I think at the moment, if we're honest, there aren't
09:07that many places up for grabs in the team. I think it's going to be Patterson, Trey Hulme,
09:13O'Neill, Dennis Irkin probably, Dan Neal, Jack Clark, Patrick Roberts, Job. So you know,
09:21there are, I don't think there's any doubt that seven or eight are nailed on for that
09:25first game of the season pretty much and it's absolutely right that the same level of quality
09:30probably isn't there at the moment but I'm not too pessimistic about that. We know that
09:34need to strengthen some areas of the pitch. We know they need to add a striker. You know,
09:38that's obviously critical. We know that if Jack Clark goes, they need to add a high calibre
09:41replacement but I wouldn't be quite so sure or quite so negative on some of these players.
09:46I actually think there were some positive signs in a challenging environment. Albeit,
09:49I completely agree that, you know, I think starting 11 is not far off kind of being there
09:54at the moment. And just following on from that, Jack says he held us impressed at centre
09:59back so far. Unlikely Ballard will be for Cardiff. Do you start him or Alise next to 09?
10:05Completely agree with you. He held us, it wasn't quite as eye-catching tonight as he had been on
10:08Friday because he was making these big stride and runs against Nottingham Forest. But he did
10:12really well. There was a couple of errors towards the end of his time on the pitch but I think that
10:17was fatigue as much as anything. It was punishing heat. Sunderland were playing with a really high
10:21line. It was noticeable tonight how high up the pitch they were pressing. Put a lot of demands
10:25on the defenders. Generally, mopped up really well. Really vocally held us well, which I like
10:31about him. He's one of the loudest players on the pitch. Really directs the players around him,
10:35which I like. Real positive signs for him this season, so far this pre-season. But at the moment,
10:40I think, you know, I like the idea of Alise and Sir can be in the same team. I think the balance
10:45is lovely with, you know, two left footers on the left, two right footers on the right.
10:50You know, I still think that position is up for grabs at the moment because of how well Alise
10:53finished last season and because of what we've seen from him when he's been fit since he joined
10:57the club. I would put him slightly ahead but for sure, you know, Hjeld is showing that,
11:02you know, maybe the player that we saw when he first arrived, you know, he's got a lot more to
11:06his locker. I actually spoke to him after the game and he was saying that, you know, he had
11:10quite a lot of niggling injuries when he first arrived at the club. Maybe it wasn't the ideal
11:14time to move but he just felt it was an amazing opportunity that he wanted to take. He kind of
11:19feels like he's fully fit now and we're seeing the best of him and I definitely agree with that.
11:23So, he's got a chance for sure but definitely, I think at the moment, Alise is probably slightly
11:29ahead. Let's see what else we've got. Yeah, The Boy Jones says, what's the strongest XI so far?
11:39I think I've kind of answered that in the previous question. At the moment, I think the starting XI
11:43looks like being Paterson, Hulme, O'Neill, Alise, Sirkin probably, Neil. Then there's a big question
11:52mark there. Rigg, I think, is ahead at the moment. Alan Brown will hope the forces win.
11:56Alan Brown looked excellent tonight but obviously, he's a little bit behind the others on his
11:59fitness. So, can he catch that up in time for Cardiff? We'll see. Then you're probably looking
12:03at Roberts, Job, Clarke. Up front, I think it's still a debate, isn't it? In obviously a position
12:10which some of them are looking to recruit. So, I do feel like that strongest XI is probably not far
12:15out at the moment but that's not a criticism of a lot of the other lads because players like
12:18Embleton, who I've mentioned, I do think he's got something to say this season and can play
12:22his way in. I just think the reality is obviously because of his injuries, fitness-wise, he's coming
12:27quite far behind. Sorry, I'm just having some coffee to try and get me through this video
12:33before I can have some sleep because it is very late out here. Ryan says, would you loan Hemiya
12:38out or Mienda out? Can't see them keeping them both for the season if we bring in another as we
12:42also have Rooson who can play a part. Yeah, really good question, Ryan. The Hemiya conundrum, man,
12:47it's so difficult, isn't it? Because you can see why with that goal, Sonnenboten, and why they
12:53persist with him because his finishing is genuinely, he's a good boy, he's got real talent,
12:57he has such an explosive shot. I've seen now because I've been lucky enough over the last
13:01year or so to go to quite a lot of open training sessions and I know, to be honest with you, it's
13:05not that much of a surprise. His finishing is really good, he's got such a powerful shot on him
13:10and there is 100% something there but it's just the other areas of his game where I think there's
13:14still those question marks. Mienda has shown huge signs of promise in the times I've seen him so far
13:20this pre-season, he's definitely taken a leap forward and in some ways even though Hemiya
13:24grabbed the headlines with that incredible goal tonight and let's hope it can be a catalyst for
13:27him. Given the standard of opposition, Mienda's performance tonight was probably even more
13:32impressive because of the way he was able to compete against Premier League players
13:36but I agree with you. I think the dilemma is that with Hemiya especially, the things that you want
13:42him to improve is you want him to adjust to the new environment, you want to keep building his
13:46fitness. Probably the best way to do that is to keep him in-house, to work with him really closely
13:52but I think if he's not going to play then you risk his value depreciating and his confidence
13:56depreciating just too much. So I do think despite his goal tonight there's maybe a strong argument
14:01for loaning Hemiya out. What I would say is none of those strategies are going to go until Sonnen
14:05recruit their own, I think that's obvious. I think all three have shown signs of promise in pre-season,
14:09all three look like they need to do a little bit more as well but I think that there is some
14:14promise there and I don't see any of them going until Sonnen have recruited which we know is
14:18probably their big priority between now and the end of the window. So in the answer to your question
14:23Ryan, I could see one or both of them going out but I think it's a little early and both of them
14:27I would say either Hemiya with his fantastic goal tonight and Mienda with his really good performance
14:32against Notts Forrest, both have given themselves a platform and let's hope they can go and kick on
14:36in the coming weeks. Last but by no means least, sorry I couldn't get that one out,
14:45my really good friends from the German Black Cats, I'd just like to say hello to you all,
14:48lovely to hear from you, fantastic people. This is, are Hemiya, Mienda and maybe Mendy
14:54enough striker options for a good offence in the championship? I think it's a really difficult
15:00one, that's when I talked the other night about the Mendy deal and how Sonnen are deciding whether
15:04that's the deal they really want to do. Obviously the dilemma there is he's a bit of an unknown
15:07quantity isn't he and you're then potentially taking kind of three unknown quantities, four
15:11with recent to an extent, into the campaign and that's why I kind of feel like maybe the preference
15:17ultimately would be for a slightly more experienced championship striker. We'll have to wait and see
15:22whether they can get one of those over the line. I do think that there's loads I like about this
15:25team from what I've seen in pre-season, I think Lebris is getting his ideas across, I think they're
15:29going to be on the front foot again, I think they're going to press really high, I think we're
15:33going to enjoy watching this team again and I think they're going to be a real threat. However,
15:37the evidence of pre-season other than, don't get me wrong, Hemiya's incredible strike is that they
15:42do still need a little bit more in the final third. I think that is fair, they are probably still
15:46lacking that little bit of x-factor and penalty box presence, so hopefully I still think that's
15:52something they need to address. In the transfer market from all the conversations I have,
15:55they're well aware of that as well, so I do think it's something that they will go and address.
16:00Hopefully that answers your questions, I think they need a little bit more and let's hope they
16:04can get it. Thanks so much for all your questions, I hope you've enjoyed this,
16:07I hope I've been coherent because I maybe feel like I'm not, but it's been so good this week
16:13engaging with you all, getting all your questions, having these conversations, I've really enjoyed it
16:17and we'll be back after the Blackpool game on Saturday to come around quick
16:21with another edition on the whistle.