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00:00Hello, welcome to the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland have just drawn 2-0 with Plymouth.
00:05Phil, a really, really, really disappointing performance and result.
00:09Yeah, I thought Sunderland would go below par right from the start, to be honest.
00:11I don't know if they took Plymouth for granted, whether Plymouth were much better than they've been recently, whatever the reason was.
00:16Initially, I kind of thought that Sunderland's set-up was wrong. I thought it was a strange game to bring Sam Edding forward.
00:21I thought it was probably a game that required a bit more dynamism forward passing from deep.
00:25And I thought it was too easy for Plymouth in the first half, but to be fair, I don't think you can put it down just to that.
00:29I think even after Sunderland went to 4-14 in the second half, they arguably got even worse, to be honest.
00:33And I thought you could see Plymouth grew in confidence, created loads of chances.
00:36I think all's said and done, I think Sunderland were just well short of their best today, for whatever reason.
00:40Slopped me in possession and gave Plymouth away into the game and fair play to Plymouth.
00:44They took it. I thought they deserved a late equaliser. I don't think Sunderland deserved to win that game.
00:49No, I don't think they did either. And I think the defending for both goals is really, really poor.
00:53And I think the disappointing thing is that Sheffield United lost last night.
00:56We've obviously gained a point on them, but we could have really, really closed that gap to the automatics.
01:01Personally, although nothing is decided yet, there's still a long way to go in the championship.
01:05I think Sheffield only gained one point from two games against Plymouth.
01:10Argyll is a potential problem, a banana skin. It's results like that that tend to indicate in the championship,
01:15whether you're an automatic promotion side or a playoff promotion side.
01:19I'm not saying that Sunderland can't or won't get there, but I think it's a little bit of a blow.
01:24It's still all to play for, of course it is. And we know that Sunderland are capable of going to Barrow and getting their result.
01:29And racking up some wins at home, we know they are. But it does feel like it's a day that you look back on at the end of the season
01:33and think that was a really, really important two points drop because you don't want to disrespect them
01:37because they've just produced a really good organised performance.
01:40But their away form this season has been dreadful. It was an opportunity that Sunderland simply had to take.
01:45I felt after the first 10 minutes where Sunderland largely dominated and really were on the front foot,
01:50when they didn't get that first goal, I felt they started to retreat into themselves.
01:53Plymouth actually had more chances as well. They hit the post, Ryan Hardy missed a really, really good opportunity.
01:58They could have scored more today. I think that's a concern.
02:01It wasn't a smashing grab by any stretch from Plymouth.
02:04The first half, I wouldn't say they were particularly ambitious.
02:07They just kind of had what they hold and Sunderland didn't do enough to break them down.
02:10But the second half, they had the better chances. They were quite aggressive in the second half.
02:13I think there was an opening there that Sunderland weren't playing very well and they took it.
02:17I think it's a real shame because I think we would both say we love this group of players.
02:21They're really good. They've given us some really good moments.
02:23But I just think there's a little bit of nastiness that they need to learn, a little bit of an edge,
02:27a little bit of ruthlessness that they need to learn.
02:29Possibly, maybe they did take things a little bit for granted today.
02:32I know that's harsh given the season they've given us, but I think that's where we are after today.
02:36I think they just lacked intensity for whatever reason, whether that was fatigue, whether it was complacency, I don't know.
02:41But they definitely lacked intensity all over the pitch.
02:43I thought really Trey Hulme was probably the only player who you could pick out and say,
02:47is anyone here as best today? Lefebvre was very, very good in the first half,
02:50but I thought probably tied in the second.
02:52Brilliant finish from Isidore, but other than that, I'm really struggling to scratch out any positives.
02:57I thought Sunderland were pretty much all over the pitch.
02:59Yeah, and shout out to Bali Mumba, who did really well for Plymouth.
03:02I thought him and Mustafa Bunda on Plymouth's right flank,
03:06I wasn't expecting to play performances of that level given where they are on the table.
03:11Huge credit to them, huge credit to the manager.
03:13I mean, they got pumped off Burnley 5-0.
03:15I thought Plymouth fans were excellent and it's tough to take for Sunderland.
03:19You'll be back tomorrow with all of us?
03:20Yeah, get your questions in underneath this YouTube video or into me over on Blue Sky and I'll be back tomorrow morning.
03:25And we'll have a podcast on Monday.
03:27Head over to the Sunderland Echo website for all of the latest after the game against Plymouth.
03:30Thanks for watching.