Phil discusses Sunderland's last-gasp equaliser at the Stadium of Light and answers questions from readers
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00:00Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of On The Whistle. We're back again just a
00:14couple of days after the last episode because we've got another Sunderland game to talk
00:18through. A bit of an odd game to assess actually, Sunderland won, Bristol City won. A frustrating
00:25night ultimately. It was obviously a big opportunity for Sunderland to get back-to-back
00:30wins against a team that had lost 3-0 away at Portsmouth a few days before. So you thought
00:34maybe confidence would be a bit low. Also a lot of travelling for Bristol City. So I
00:39felt that it was a game in which although Bristol City have a lot of individual talent
00:43and they're a very good, especially away from home, they're a very quick side, a very athletic
00:47side. Often quite an awkward counter-attacking opponent. I think we've seen that in the last
00:51few seasons when Sunderland have played them at home, especially under Nigel Pearson. It
00:55did feel like a bit of an opportunity for Sunderland and what was interesting about
00:59the game was actually the first 20-25 minutes played out exactly as you kind of hoped it
01:04would, whereas Sunderland I thought were really, really fluid. Again, like they did on Saturday,
01:07I thought they were playing some lovely football, getting the ball into the wide areas really
01:11nicely. Meander and Watson causing a lot of problems. The only kind of frustration in
01:17that period of the game was that Sunderland weren't really turning it into clear-cut chances.
01:20I didn't think Max O'Leary had a great deal to do in the Bristol City goal early on. Speaking
01:26to Regis Lebris afterwards in his post-match press conference, he was sort of saying that
01:31his big frustration was he didn't think Sunderland got enough bodies in the box when they've
01:34created those openings, when they created those kind of half-chances and his point was
01:39it's not just about the player who can potentially get on the end of the cross. If you're able
01:43to flood the box and get more bodies in the box, it's about the second ball as well. It's
01:46about the pressure you can apply on the opposition. It's about the loose balls. He was very clear
01:52after the game that the big thing he thinks Sunderland need to continue to work on is
02:00playing against a low block, basically. I think it's something that we've seen Sunderland
02:03struggle with at the stadium for quite a long time. It's clearly something where there's
02:07still a lot of work to be done and I think that's at the root of last night's frustration.
02:13I thought that Sunderland were really unfortunate in that I thought Tommy Watson's injury really
02:17derailed their momentum for two reasons really. One, it just slowed the game down. While Watson
02:22was being treated and Sunderland were down to 10 men, they obviously had to put their
02:26foot on the ball, they had to slow it down, they couldn't take any chances so that Bristol
02:29City couldn't capitalise and it took them a little while to lift the tempo again. It
02:35also just really damaged Sunderland's structure if you like because Watson's been so effective
02:39over the last few games. Mienda having to move out onto the left. The way that Sunderland
02:44play, I don't think it's ideal to have a left footed left winger because they're always
02:47wanting to cut inside. I do think that over the course of the 90 minutes, I made a lie
02:52to Mienda, my Sunderland player of the match. Doesn't always come off, sometimes he loses
02:56the ball but I think you expect that with the way he plays and actually I thought his
02:59energy was excellent throughout the game. I thought he made a really good fist of the
03:03left wing row, took on his player a lot, got past him a lot. I thought most of Sunderland's
03:07good play came through his directness and his willingness to try and make something
03:11happen but I do think that unfortunate enforced substitution really damaged Sunderland. I
03:20think the second half was really, really strange. It's not one that I saw coming. I was incredibly
03:25disappointed with Sunderland's performance. They looked lethargic. They seemed to completely
03:29run out of ideas. I think you've got to give a lot of credit to Bristol City and Liam Manning.
03:34He was very bold. He made a double substitution at half-time which is not something you see
03:37many managers do at nil-nil and he also made a slight tactical tweak. Went to three at
03:42the back. I asked him about this after the game in his post-match press conference and
03:46what he basically explained is yes, it's a risk because you're pushing another player
03:50high up the pitch but what it enables you to do is it enables you to get an extra player
03:54on to press Sunderland's defence. So basically, make it harder for Sunderland to move the
04:01ball quickly into the wingers which is something that we know can be so destructive. I'm really
04:06interested in moving forward. What's the takeaway from this? Like I said, I thought
04:10there were a lot of tired legs out there and I thought that was a big part of why Bristol
04:13City were able to wrestle back control. But I do wonder if there's a little tactical thing
04:17for La Brice here because that's not the first time we've seen a team playing three at the
04:21back. Of course, Sunderland had a lot of problems with their build-up and nipped the ball back
04:25a lot and pushed Sunderland back towards their own goal. We definitely saw it away at Watford.
04:29I think we saw it away at Preston. That was obviously a very changed team and that was
04:33part of that. So it'll be interesting to see whether it is something where there was
04:36just too many tired legs out there from a Sunderland perspective or whether it's maybe
04:41something a little bit tactical that Sunderland need to look at. Is that something that they're
04:45kind of consistently struggling with? So all in all, I think it was a bit of a disappointing
04:50point but obviously in the circumstances when you're 1-0 down, 92 minutes into the game
04:55and it's a long time since you've created a chance, I think you're very, very happy
04:58to go all the way to the point and I think you have to give credit to Patrick Roberts.
05:02He spoke after the Stoke game about how he'd been much better, much closer to the kind
05:05of form he showed at the start of the season and he ended his long wait for an open play
05:11goal with a really, really well-taken finish and then of course, Dan Bard nearly nicked
05:15it, a good save from O'Leary. So I suppose it's one of those, we always say these kind
05:19of things in the Championship, whereby if you go and win it at Swansea on Saturday,
05:24it's a good point because then it's seven points and nine in a really, really positive
05:28week. It obviously preserves the unbeaten home run, which is nice as well, but it feels
05:32a little bit different to, for example, the Leeds game where it really, really felt like
05:36a point gained. Obviously, it was a point gained in the circumstances but this felt
05:40a lot more like a bit of a missed opportunity. As I say, I think you do have to give a bit
05:44of credit to Bristol City. I thought they were quite passive in the first half but their
05:49manager made some bold changes to get them back into the game, so credit to him for that.
05:53So we're going to go into your questions now. I'm just going to have a drink of coffee.
05:58Sorry, I know it's not very pleasant listening to me drink coffee, but late finish, early
06:02start, I need my coffee. No coffee, no on the whistle, those are the rules, I'm afraid.
06:08Loads of you asked a question on a similar theme, so I'm just going to bunch them all
06:13in together, but I'll read them out here. Ross says, time for a deal to get a chance
06:17now. Clearly got quality and Rigg is desperate for a break. Hennie says, feels like we need
06:21to freshen things up for the weekend. Aoushish earned a start. Scar34 says, given the positive
06:27cameo from Aoushish tonight, what future do you see for him given that he's largely been
06:31frozen out until recently?
06:34Yes, I think Aoushish deserves a lot of credit for his little cameo substitution last night.
06:42I have to be honest, I was tearing my hair out a bit when I saw him. Not that I've got
06:46much left, but what I did have left, I was tearing out because seeing him going out on
06:52the line up on the left wing, you kind of think, come on, give the guy a chance. You
06:56get so few opportunities to impact the game and then he comes on and he's shunted out
07:00into what is in no way kind of a natural position for him. He's never going to be a winger who
07:05can drive at the full back and take them on. He doesn't really have the pace or the dribbling
07:08ability for that. At one point, someone launched a long ball towards him and I'm kind of thinking,
07:14come on, help the guy out. But I think, credit to Labreece, I think by the end of the game
07:19you could see a little bit more what he was thinking by bringing him on. He was linking
07:25up quite nicely with Serkin, with the other midfielders. He was drifting into little pockets
07:29of space. I actually do think he gave the full back something different to think about
07:33because his style is so different to a traditional left winger. I think you've got to give him
07:38a lot of credit and obviously you've got the assist for Roberts, so fair play to him. It's
07:42a really strange dynamic. Do I think this changes his position in the squad and moving
07:46forward? Not particularly, no. I mean, now Ashish is 22, he's played a lot of football
07:51in the French top tier. He's not going to settle for a bit part role coming off the
07:57bench every three or four games for 20 minutes. I don't think there's any reason why he should
08:01do that and I don't think Sunderland will have any intention of standing in his way
08:05come January. I think they know that it's not sustainable for him to be playing this
08:09little football. You've also got to remember that Sunderland, La Brice has basically said
08:13that they're looking for some additions in the final third, one or two. You had Romain
08:18Mundell back, you had Alan Brown back, you had Jan Pervaele come fitness into the equation.
08:23I think Ashish, by the time January comes around, is pretty much going to be back where
08:27he started at the beginning of the season. I don't see that changing. What's really weird
08:33about this dynamic approach in the January window is Sunderland play Portsmouth at home
08:37on January the 5th. You can't imagine there'll be a lot of business done before then. So
08:41that's six games. We're not expecting Mundell and Brown to be back and play a significant
08:46part before then. Jan Pervaele might do, but they're going to be cautious with them you
08:50would think. I think Sunderland are going to need Ashish over those six games because
08:56I think as Ross mentioned there at the start, I think we're beginning to see sometimes,
09:00especially in the second half of games, we're beginning inevitably to see a few signs of
09:03fatigue from Chris Rigg. As we mentioned, if Tommy Watson is going to be out for a period
09:08of time without injury, we don't know yet what the extent of that is. We asked Labriece
09:11about it afterwards. He said he didn't have a diagnosis. It would obviously be wrong to
09:15speculate. He did say that he was having issues with his ankle and his knee, which is obviously
09:18not a great sign, but we should find out more in the week when we speak to Labriece ahead
09:22of the trip to Swansea. But if Watson is out for a while, the options are not really that
09:28great for Labriece and I think he's going to have to use Ashish. I think the main thing
09:33is you've got to praise Ashish. Obviously, he's a professional footballer. You expect
09:38him to apply himself no matter the situation. He's well-renumerated for it, but he's done
09:42the hard yards really since Sunderland. He almost went on deadline day, but he's done
09:46the hard yards since then. He's trained well. He's played in all the under-21s games when
09:51he's asked to, often away from home, and he's kind of forced his way back in. So I've got
09:55a lot of respect for the way he's done that. I think Sunderland will need him and I think
09:59it's encouraging that last night he showed he's sort of got the hunger to make an impact
10:02because I think he is going to be needed. I think he will probably have to start at
10:06least a couple of games between now and potentially leaving the club in January if that's what
10:11happens. So yeah, I doubt it changes too much, but you never know. Football's an odd sport.
10:16We've seen players come back from the cold before and Ashish certainly showed last night
10:21he's got a lot to offer. So let's see what happens over the coming games. Penny, as part
10:27of his questions, also said maybe give Connolly a go from the start again as a number 10,
10:31as at Millwall. I definitely think that's an option moving forward, whether it's Saturday,
10:35whether it's the week after, whether it's over the Christmas fixtures. I think we'll
10:38have to see Connolly start with either Isidore or Mienda up front because, as I said, I think
10:43he's been amazing this season, especially in the first half of games. He's still seen
10:46Chris Rigg be one of the best players on the pitch and one of the most creative players
10:49on the pitch week in, week out. But I think we are seeing a few signs of tiredness maybe
10:55and I don't think it's realistic to expect him to start. I mentioned that run of six
10:59games between now and January 5th. I'm not sure how realistic it is for him to start
11:03in each and every one of them. So I do think that it's probably tough for Connolly at the
11:07moment, I think, but I think that probably is going to be his way back into the team
11:11at some point.
11:14Andrew says, is it time for Isidore to come out and have a rest?
11:19Yeah, it's an interesting question. Obviously, it's been a
11:25frustrating couple of games for Isidore. I felt quite strongly after the Stoke game that
11:31you had to persist with Isidore because he's talked so much last season about something
11:35striking, not scoring goals, but actually the heart of it, the real issue was they
11:39weren't even getting chances. They weren't in the right positions to even get shots away
11:44and that was what was so concerning. After the Stoke game, I'm kind of looking at going,
11:48I've got no worries with Isidore. We've seen so far this season that he's a good finisher.
11:52If he keeps getting the number of chances that he had against Stoke, he's going to start
11:55scoring goals. I still largely think that. I do think last night he really struggled.
12:00I think that's fairly obvious. I think that he obviously didn't get many chances. I thought
12:05Bristol City's two centre-halves managed him really, really well and kind of won that contest.
12:12I think it's interesting because Isidore is 24, which in our minds, when we view him against
12:17the rest of Sunderland's squad, almost makes him a veteran. But of course, you've got to remember
12:20that he's still quite a young player adjusting to a new division. He's playing more football
12:25at the moment than he has for quite a while because he was in and out of the team at Zenit
12:28before. So, I think there's probably inevitably some signs of fatigue from him as well. You know,
12:33playing Saturday to Tuesday, he obviously gets through a huge amount of running.
12:37So, I think it's maybe one to watch over the coming weeks. But for now, to be honest,
12:42if I was in charge, thankfully for you lot, I'm not in charge of Sunderland. But if it was me,
12:46I think I'd probably be giving Isidore another go on Saturday. I think he brings so much to
12:50the team with his all-round play and his running and I'd be tempted to stick with him. But I
12:55definitely think it's one to watch because last night was the first time where I felt he looked
12:58a little bit fatigued. But I think what we've seen from him so far, without being prolific
13:03necessarily, I think he's shown enough sort of poacher's instinct to be worth persisting with,
13:07I think. So, Ross says, was the second half our worst of the season? Yeah, I think it was probably
13:17up there, to be honest. Let me just have a quick look through the fixtures and see. I suppose there
13:21was the second half at Plymouth, which was really frustrating because Sunderland really had that
13:25game by the scruff of the neck. And although they kind of rallied towards the end, you know,
13:29I think that was a big missed opportunity. The first half of Watford I didn't think was great
13:34either. And again, you know, kind of what I was mentioning earlier, I think that there were
13:39probably some similarities between Watford in that game and Bristol City in the second half
13:43last night. And the way Sunderland struggled to almost build up, as we know they can, seemed to
13:47get pushed back, really find it hard to find their wingers and sort of break out from the press.
13:52So maybe there's something a little bit to think about there. But I do think that last night there
13:58did seem to be a real kind of lethargy about Sunderland's play in the second half. So it's
14:02probably one for Lebris to reflect on, not just the tactical element, but, you know, has he got a
14:07few players there who maybe do need a bit of a break? We've talked about Eastall, we've talked
14:11about Rigg. I think that would be something for him to really kind of reflect on in the next couple
14:18of days and obviously see how the players recover. Because I definitely think that, yeah, it was a
14:24tough watch at times that second half last night. And it's not very often we've said that this season
14:27and especially not away from home. So Carl says, did we miss Luton 9's ability to bring the ball
14:34out from defence amongst his other qualities? Not the only issue, but felt at times that we could
14:39have done better and moved us up the pitch quicker. I really agree with this, Carl. I think it's a
14:43great point. I think we're obviously going to be talking a lot probably in the weeks ahead
14:47about the selection decisions that Lebris makes and who's sort of the best two centre-halves to
14:52play out. I think that Chris Metham and Dan Ballard have outstanding defensive qualities,
14:58Premier League defensive qualities, I think. I don't think there's any doubt about that whatsoever.
15:02But I do think that aside from his leadership and his mentality, I do think last night shows,
15:06especially on home turf, what Luton 9 offers that is a little bit different. His aggression when he
15:12drives out with the ball, his willingness to take risks in possession, the way he wraps the ball
15:16through the lines. I think he offers a lot on the ball, especially when Lebris is talking about that
15:21riddle of trying to break down deep line defences. I think that's a really important part of the
15:28jigsaw is 0-9. That's not me saying I definitely think 0-9 should play ahead of Metham or Ballard,
15:35but I do think you saw last night why he has something a bit different to offer. I do think
15:38Metham can do it in part. I think you see him take some risks on the ball. You see him play over the
15:43top quite well to Isidore and so on play over the top to Mienda last night a couple of times as well,
15:47which almost brought a reward. I do think Metham can do a lot of that, but I do think particularly
15:53with his ability to drive out in possession, I think 0-9 does offer something a bit different.
15:59I think moving forward in games like this, I do still think 0-9 has a lot to offer at centre-half.
16:04I think that's about it. Thanks so much for sending all your questions in.
16:08Obviously, we'll be there at Swansea on Saturday, so On The Whistle will probably be up on Sunday
16:13because I'll have quite a long journey home. Thanks again for sending all your questions
16:17and comments in. Thanks so much for watching. We'll be speaking to Lebris probably tomorrow,
16:22possibly Friday ahead of the Swansea game where we should get an update on Tommy Watson
16:26and everything else. Just as one last aside, we mentioned 0-9 there. Lebris did say after
16:31the game that 0-9 had been ill, but he should be fine for Saturday. Keep an eye out on the
16:37Sunday Decker. We'll have all your updates linked to that game and obviously full coverage
16:41from the game itself on Saturday. I'll see you probably Sunday for another edition of On The
16:46Whistle. Thanks for watching, everyone.