Phil Smith discusses Sunderland's draw with Coventry City and answers questions from readers
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00:00Hi everyone and welcome to another edition of On The Whistle, the third edition of On
00:14The Whistle in a week and the third draw for Sunderland in a week. Do we have to accept
00:18at this point that Sunderland are just never going to beat Coventry? I think that's nine
00:21games in a row now without beating the Sky Blues and today probably actually of all those
00:27games up there were the most disappointing and the most frustrating. Maybe you could
00:31put the 5-4 back in the Ligue 1 either up there because of the consequences that had
00:36but Sunderland had complete control of this game at half-time. The first half was kind
00:41of what we've become accustomed to at home this season. They weren't creating on this
00:46occasion loads and loads of chances but they were clearly the better team, felt like they
00:50had Coventry where they wanted them, felt like they could up the tempo and create more
00:53chances than ever they wanted to. Two incredible goals. One of the actual most frustrating
00:58things about the way the game panned out for me today is that we probably won't be able
01:01to give those goals the love that they deserve over the coming weeks and months because Isidoro's
01:06volley on his weaker foot first time into the far corner. Watching it live I assumed
01:11it must have been some kind of fluke, that it must have hit his knee or something like
01:14that and lipped over but actually the precision with which he scored was so impressive and
01:19then Serkin maybe even went one better. I was speaking to Frankie Francis in the press
01:24room after the game and he mentioned Carlos Edwards' goal as similar to Serkin's and I
01:28think that's a really good comparison, just an incredible hit. Super kev against Chelsea
01:32was the one that sprung to mind for me, just an amazing hit. You felt like Sunderland were
01:39in complete control. The second half was just really disappointing. I thought it was a lax
01:44performance. In all these scenarios it's very difficult to work out what was Sunderland's
01:51shortcomings and what was Coventry improving but it did feel like there was the tempo and
01:56the intensity was really lacking from Sunderland in the second half. I think on the balance
02:00of the second half, although Sunderland had chances, I think you have to say that Coventry's
02:04goals, both of them, there was no surprise when they happened because the momentum of
02:08the game had clearly switched and Coventry had looked a threat. Let's get into some of
02:14your questions. Quite a lot of you, I think, are asking questions along a similar theme
02:17so as we go I might chuck in one or two together but we'll come to that as we go. A couple
02:24of you basically just asked what happened in that second half. Ian says, what happened
02:29in the second half? Cruising along then bang, those games will see us end up in the play-offs
02:34and not automatically promoted. Mark also asking what happened in the second half. A
02:42little bit of a sweary part of that question as well which I won't put out there but I
02:46think you can probably guess the gist of it. Listen, I think for all of us it's really
02:51hard to work out how a team can go from what it did in the first half to what it did in
02:55the second half. It's really tempting I think and it's hard not to think that a little bit
02:59of complacency slipped into Sunderland's game because of how lax they were with the passing
03:03and the way the tempo dropped. Speaking to both managers after the game, obviously they're
03:08kind of experts and maybe I'll try and give you a bit of an input from what they said.
03:13I asked the Coventry City boss, he said his team had shown a lot of character in the second
03:18half, certainly felt that they'd shown a lot of mental strength and they'd lifted their
03:22game in the second half. He also said that they'd made some tactical tweaks at half-time.
03:27I asked him what those tweaks were and he said that basically what they'd done is they'd
03:30changed their shape in the middle of the pitch a little bit because they felt the press wasn't
03:33working and they'd also got a little bit higher up. They'd got their centre-halves higher
03:38up the pitch from where they were in the first half, basically just to try and put
03:40Sunderland under more pressure. Now that really tallied with what Le Brice said in his post-match
03:46press conference where he said that even though he was really pleased with the performance
03:48in the first half, he felt the pressing wasn't right, that Sunderland was struggling to press
03:51Coventry's back three and what he basically said he felt the main thing that went wrong
03:55in the second half was that Sunderland's ball retention wasn't good enough. So they weren't
03:59holding the ball well enough when Coventry were pressing them because they were getting
04:02higher up the pitch and they were probably getting their midfielders in more aggressive
04:05positions and I think he basically felt that Sunderland were just giving up control. They
04:09were basically giving the ball back to Coventry and they were allowing Coventry to do what
04:12they do best. The way he described it was we allowed them to use their strengths against
04:16our weaknesses. So if you ask me how it did feel at the time watching it from up in the
04:20press box, I felt there was a little bit of maybe not complacency is too harsh a word
04:24but I felt Sunderland didn't find the tempo that they found in the first half. Speaking
04:28to both managers afterwards they clearly felt that Coventry changed things, that they pressed
04:31better and they were more aggressive in the second half. I thought Coventry were probably
04:34slightly more direct in the second half as well and that was effective. I do think Hadji
04:38Wright's a really good player. So yeah, really, really frustrating. I think that Coventry
04:46are a good side. They're better than where they are on the table and I think that at
04:49the end of the season they will be higher than where they are now. I do quite passionately
04:53believe that. I think that's really obvious because of the quality they have and Hadji
04:56Wright who I thought was a threat throughout, I think sums that up. What I will say is that
05:00Sunderland will never get a better opportunity to beat them. They're two centre midfielders,
05:04Josh Eccles was suspended, Ben Sheaf, their captain, probably their most influential player,
05:08was injured before the game. They've got two of their probably first choice goalkeepers
05:12out at the moment. That was the goalkeeper who played, it was his first game of the season
05:16and he was ill. Ellis Sims obviously didn't get on the pitch so even though he was on
05:20the bench he clearly wasn't fit which is why he didn't feature. They currently don't have
05:24a left wing back. Jack Rodoni who was playing there was playing out of position. So yeah,
05:29Sunderland have let a huge opportunity pass them by. I don't think there's any need to
05:32overreact because Sunderland are still top and there was obviously a lot of positives
05:36in the first half and they haven't lost the game but they've let a huge opportunity go
05:39by today and I think because of that, I think that's arguably one of the most frustrating
05:42results of the season for me. Let's have a look at some of your other questions.
05:52Little bit of both. I spoke a little bit in midweek so I won't go over it again but I do
05:58feel that there is a big difference between any team you play in the Championship at home
06:02and away. I think that Preston had a terrible result against Portsmouth but I thought they
06:06played okay for large parts of that game. QPR I thought were okay for large parts of that game
06:11at home. Clearly disappointing results and Sunderland weren't at their best but I do think
06:15that it is harder to win away from home. I think there's a big difference. I think you say not
06:21against top sides. I've said there that Sunderland have let a big opportunity go today. I think
06:25Coventry are better than their position in the table suggests. Injuries I think are clearly
06:31a factor. New normal. I think the reality is that Sunderland so far this season have been a very,
06:35very good side away from home. They've been an okay side away from home in terms of performance
06:40level. I think that maybe they got slightly more points than some of their performances
06:44deserved through the first part of the season and I think what's happening this week maybe is that
06:48they're underperforming slightly. So for me, I don't think there's any need for panic. I didn't
06:54feel that we'd seen that many performances apart from a few at home where you're looking at it
07:00Sunderland are obviously a top two side. I think the reality is that they're probably good in terms
07:06of the depth of the squad and the quality of the squad. I think they are a top six, top eight side
07:11and I think we're just seeing a little bit of variance in the results to be honest. So
07:15frustrated but not overly concerned. I think Sunderland are going to be a real force at home
07:19this season and I think we've seen enough metal and enough resilience in the squad to see that
07:23they'll pick up points on the road. I do think they have to improve their performances from
07:28this week so I'm certainly not suggesting otherwise but I don't think it's the new normal.
07:33If that's kind of the question Peter, I think we will see especially at home. I think we will
07:38still see Sunderland win a lot of games. They did have complete control of that until that very
07:43disappointing second half but I hadn't seen enough. There were little games, certainly the
07:49Oxford game, the quality there that made you think that Sunderland could push to the top two.
07:53I still don't think over the course of the 15 games we've seen a dominant performance level
07:57week in, week out that suggests that that's where they are yet. So it's going to be really
08:01interesting to see after the international break how they go. That's going to be a really
08:05interesting passage of games because you've got Millwall, West Brom, Sheffield United. That's
08:10two of them away from home. That's three really, really, really difficult games. Let's see where
08:14we're at after that game Peter. I think those games are going to be really interesting. It's
08:18going to tell us a lot about the side. So I've got a question here from Club de Real Naranjas
08:25who says, why after being so dominant in the first half did Sunderland just sit off such a
08:28poor side? If you play a low block, fine, but you can't be as passive as we were.
08:32Yeah, as I said, I thought the tempo of Sunderland's game and the intensity was well off in the second
08:37half from where I was in the first and I think that was really, really disappointing. At times
08:41we've seen them sit off the season and defend their box very effectively. I think the game
08:45against Derby was an example of that. It is something they can do. However, it was really
08:50frustrating to date and I totally agree with that sentiment that I think Sunderland needed
08:54to be more aggressive. What I would say is that clearly the view from speaking to both managers
08:58after the game, it wasn't that Sunderland sat off. They weren't trying to be defensive in the
09:01second half. It was that Coventry got in their faces more and Sunderland just didn't play well
09:05enough in the face of that. So I'm not sure how deliberate that was today towards the second half.
09:09I actually just think that was the momentum of the game, the game flipping. Now loads of you
09:15are asked about substitutions. So SR says Hart criticised the Breece too much, but whereas subs
09:19are on today, I feel like Miander gives so much energy, much more energy up top than Connolly
09:24and does the Breece not trust Aleksic that much not to give him 10 minutes? Mark also asked about
09:31the subs again. Mark's mentioned before we've talked a bit about the Breece being quite passive
09:36with the substitutions. He doesn't like to make a lot of them and he likes to make them a bit later
09:39in games. I asked the Breece about his substitutions after the game because it was clear from social
09:45media and stuff that it was a big talking point for everyone who'd watched it. Certainly there's
09:48Sunderland supporters. Basically his view was that he felt that with the momentum of the game
09:53and with Coventry on top, it wasn't the right moment to bring on a Watson or an Aleksic, a
09:58young player. He wanted basically experienced campaigners. I think that it is, I don't think
10:04they were the right subs. I think in hindsight, I think that Connolly has been quite effective
10:08when Sunderland have been managing games and holding onto a lead, if you think away at Luton,
10:12away at Hull. So I can see why he wanted to get him on. The other thing that the Breece said in
10:17terms of changing the shape and bringing Ballard on rather than Aleksic was that Coventry were
10:21being quite direct at that point and he felt there was going to be a lot of long balls and a lot of
10:24crosses into the box and obviously Ballard's a player who can deal with that really well.
10:28So he said he didn't regret the substitutions, how the game went, but he didn't feel it was
10:34better to get more experience on the pitch. In my view, I think taking Isidoro out the middle
10:40was a mistake because I think he is such a threat on the break and I think he holds the ball up well.
10:44I think he looked a little bit lost on the left and I think it really suddenly needed to be a
10:50threat on the break and needed to be able to make the ball stick to manage that tricky period when
10:53Coventry were on top and I think moving Isidoro out to the left basically took away one of their
10:57most effective outlets in doing that. So I don't think it worked today and again, Watson's a really
11:07good ball carrier and I mentioned the other week about him playing off the right, not quite sure
11:11about that. I think he could have been quite effective on the left, so it didn't work. I think
11:15it's always easy in hindsight, but I think that the Ballard one made more sense to me because I
11:19think another centre half to deal with the set pieces and the crosses and stuff. I could see why
11:24that would be effective and while Connolly's done that job up front well in recent games,
11:28I did think Isidoro moving out to the left definitely hampered the side in my view. So
11:33I think it's something where the team have obviously got a lot to reflect on after the
11:37game, but also kind of the decisions made in the second half from the dugout as well.
11:41Dominic, which is an interesting question, said if Brown and Mundell don't get injured at the same
11:44time, do you think we still go on to win the game? Just as a quick update, there's no update on their
11:48injuries yet. I mean, Mundell's looked fairly clearly to be a muscle injury, didn't he? Pulled
11:52up straight away, which is a big concern because he's been such a good player. Yeah, I'm not sure,
12:00it definitely didn't help, but I thought there's something where we're struggling at that point and
12:03that really made things unravel even further. And obviously the fact that Lebris then changed
12:08shape, I don't think it helped the kind of confusion that was out there on the pitch,
12:11but I have to say that the momentum of the game had switched. I do think Coventry would get more
12:16and more on top and I think some of them were pretty much from the start of the second half,
12:19so I couldn't sit here and say that they would definitely have won the game if those two hadn't
12:22played. If those two had been able to stay on, sorry, because I do think the momentum of the
12:29game had switched and it was definitely a factor, but I'm not sure it was the biggest factor in
12:34Coventry getting back level. Okay, so we've got a couple of questions from Gail who first asks
12:41about Mienda and what it says for his contribution to the season when it seems that Connolly is
12:46preferred. Yeah, I think it's a fair shout. I think that Mienda can probably consider himself
12:52a bit harshly done by, given how well he played in the start of the season, not to be the first
12:56choice. As I said, Lebris' view after the game was he wanted experience on the pitch and that's
13:01why he went with Connolly. I do think we've seen some good signs from Connolly at times over the
13:05first few games that he's been on the pitch, but clearly his sharpness isn't there and I think in
13:09hindsight it is easy to say that maybe Mienda's fresh legs would have been the better option.
13:14I do think Mienda deserves opportunities after the international break and hopefully another
13:18two weeks of training, maybe some under-21s minutes as well. We'll see him coming out
13:22firing because I do think he deserves that because he played so well at the start of the season.
13:28And Gail also asked how the team is going to shape up for the Millwall game, which is also
13:32something that Mike asked about. So yeah, Lebris has a big problem for Millwall.
13:37Hulme and Roberts both got yellow cards today. Jobe is still going to be suspended for that day,
13:42that game. So there's three players out, no right back and obviously we have those question marks
13:47over Brown and Mundell. So I think what will probably happen is that we'll probably
13:52see someone go to a back three, I think, because I think the obvious one is to bring
13:57Ballard back into the team and I think what will then happen is you'll play a little bit of a sort
14:01of a back four slash back five. It might look a bit different in possession and out of position
14:07and I think you'll see either Mepham or O'Neill go and play on that right-hand side with the
14:13license to get forward when someone's got the ball but drop in on the right of a back three
14:17when the opposition have the ball. So I think Ballard will definitely come back into the team.
14:21I think when we spoke to Lebris in the past when Hulme got his fourth yellow card and this started
14:25being a bit of a concern, I think he kind of hinted that O'Neill or Mepham move him out to
14:29right back would be the option. I think Alan Brown has played right wing back for Preston
14:34and has done so fairly effectively so that would also be an option if he is fit. Obviously that's
14:39a big question mark. Brown and Roberts are obviously two big concerns. I think Watson will
14:46play in place of Roberts because I think obviously we've seen that while I prefer him off the left,
14:51I think he is the next sort of player to come in on the right pavade and won't be fit I don't think
14:56by the time of the Millwall game. My guess is that we'll see someone go to a back three and
15:04potentially like I say O'Neill and Mepham shift out to the right of that back three
15:09and maybe Isidoro and Connolly or maybe Isidoro and Meander up front and sort of change shape
15:14that way. But a lot of it I think will also depend on like I say on Brown and Mundell
15:19and we'll have to wait and see how they progress. So yeah thanks for all your questions,
15:24really good discussion. I've really enjoyed this. I didn't enjoy the second half so much but
15:29yeah just keep following all our content over the international break and I'll be back at
15:34some point no doubt with another video. Thanks very much for watching and thanks for sending
15:37your questions in as ever.