Phil is back to talk through Sunderland's disappointing draw with Plymouth Argyle and to discuss all your questions and comments
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00:00Good morning everyone and welcome to the latest episode of On The Whistle where we're going
00:18to chat through Sunderland 2, Plymouth Argyll 2. Not very often this season, in fact I'm
00:22really struggling to think of one off the top of my head where we've had to sit and
00:25do this and talk through what was a really disappointing performance as well as a result
00:29of course we've had some really frustrating results and some knots of great performances
00:33over the course of the season but I felt like this for many people certainly my feeling after
00:38the game was this was one of the most disappointing results of the season really given what an
00:42opportunity it was. We obviously had a little bit of a chat myself and James from the press box
00:49you can see that instant reaction video on our YouTube channel as well if you want to go back
00:53and have a look at that so I don't want to dwell too much on the game but it was thought was a
00:57really disappointing performance from Sunderland right through the entirety of the game really.
01:02Initially as I discussed on our reaction video my initial feeling was that Sunderland had got
01:07the setup wrong. Lots of you asked about the team selection and the way Sunderland approached the
01:12game so I'm going to discuss that in quite a bit of depth later because that was the kind
01:15of dominant thing you were all sort of talking about and asking about after the game. My initial
01:20feeling was that it was unnecessarily conservative against a Plymouth team who I think were always
01:26going to sit deep and defend in quite a low block. I felt like we've talked a lot over the last
01:33couple of years about a lot of us wanting Daniel to play further forward where he could sort of
01:37wrap passes into the box where he can show what he's all about in the final third where he's got
01:41that little bit of x-factor as it is a really creative passing player. The irony is I felt like
01:46this was one of the games where you would have been very happy with Daniel in that deep line
01:50role because he can play these big switches of play, he can quicken things up, he can take them
01:55both centre half and try something quite aggressive which is what I think the game called for and so
02:00I think that Sunderland sort of laboured through the first half albeit I thought we saw again
02:04you know flashes of what Enzo Lefe can offer. I thought most of Sunderland's good play in the
02:09first half came through him, got into some great areas. I think he's unbelievably unlucky not to
02:13have an assist yet in his three appearances. I think the quality of some of the balls he's put
02:17in the box have been top draw and of course that controversial Isidore goal that was ruled out
02:21at Derby would have been an assist so I think there is a positive there. The strange thing is
02:26though is that for all that I felt that Sunderland's setup was was wrong in the first half, when
02:31they equalised and made it 1-1 in the second half and Lebris made the substitution that I think we
02:35were all thinking about which was to get Miendoor and go for 4-4-2, I actually thought Sunderland
02:40got considerably worse after that. We do definitely have to give some credit to Plymouth Argyle
02:45I think for their performance in the first half. They were defensively disciplined, they were
02:48structured. I thought their play in possession was very, very limited to be honest. In the first
02:53half that is, I thought it was very much play long balls, get the ball away from dangerous areas and
02:58hope for the best. I think to be fair you have to give them some credit. In the second
03:02half it wasn't like that at all. I think they sensed an opportunity in the second half, they grew in
03:05confidence and I thought they actually had quite a good counter-attacking strategy in the second
03:12half. I thought Barley Munbaugh was really, really good, arguably the man of the match across the 90
03:16minutes actually. I thought he produced a really strong performance. First half defensively, second
03:20half I actually thought he drove into some nice areas. I thought their right winger, Mustafa
03:24Bundu, I thought he got into some really good areas before he went off as well. So we do have
03:28to give some credit to Plymouth, they got a reaction from what happened in midweek, credit to
03:32their manager for that. It was quite interesting speaking to him after the game, I actually said
03:36that because of Stormy Owen they'd actually travelled up a day before than they would normally
03:40have done. They would have travelled up on the Friday but instead they stayed up on the Thursday.
03:43Musilic has some connections who know Paul Mitchell, the Sporting Director at Newcastle and
03:47they basically spent two days in a mini-camp at Newcastle's training ground doing a lot of
03:52tactical work, a lot of video analysis but also just giving the head coach time to spend
03:57some time with his players, which I think after what happened in midweek when they lost
04:01five-nil to Burnley, I think it really helped. So there was something probably a little bit
04:06unfortunate and circumstances conspired against them there for Plymouth to produce
04:10a much better performance than we'd expected.
04:15I thought something got worse after went 4-4-2, I thought the game was way too open,
04:19I thought Plymouth looked the better team in that phase, I thought something was slightly
04:23fortunate to get ahead, obviously a great finish from Trehearne but something to get ahead from
04:26a set-piece goal. Labrisco is back to a 4-3-3, doesn't really help, he puts on another defender,
04:33doesn't really help and by the end I thought that Plymouth absolutely deserved their equaliser,
04:36they could maybe even make an argument that they deserved to win the game on the balance of
04:40chances. So that was an interesting one for me in that it sort of leads me to think that while I
04:45didn't agree with the way the team set up, I'm not sure it was necessarily purely a formation
04:50and tactics thing because I think no matter what formation Sunderland played at any stage during
04:54the game, I don't think they were anywhere near their best, I think it was just a case of them
04:58lacking their usual intensity, lacking their usual quality on the ball for sure. I thought some of
05:02the passing, especially in the first half, was so sloppy. So what are the reasons for that? You
05:07would hope it wasn't complacency, you would hope that it's not underestimating Plymouth,
05:12was a little bit fatigued at the end of a week in which they played two away games,
05:17possibly that was a factor for sure, although I think Plymouth would argue given the trip they
05:21had to make up to the North East, it's hard to really make that as an excuse for Sunderland.
05:26Or was it just an off day? There haven't been too many this season where the players just
05:30couldn't get, for whatever reason, to the level we've seen from them. It's really, really hard
05:34to know for sure, but I do fear that this is going to be an afternoon that we look back on
05:39the end of the season, certainly in terms of the top two, and say it was really, really pivotal.
05:44Listen, there's still a lot to play for, so many points still to play, so they've still got to play
05:48a lot of the teams around them that they can take points off. So there's no need for doom and gloom
05:51on that front, Sunderland is still very much in the race for the top two, but I do also think
05:54there's a reality that the teams, especially the parachute payment teams, they're not going to
05:59drop that many points, and I think with Sheffield United losing at home to Hull on Friday night,
06:03with Burnley and Leeds playing tomorrow, it's a one-off, both of those teams will drop points.
06:08I think, given where Plymouth are on the table, this was an absolutely massive opportunity for
06:12Sunderland, and I think it's one they'll know that they had to do a bit more with, and they had to
06:16get the three points from. So we know Sunderland kept on going on a run, I don't want to be overly
06:20negative about it, but it did feel like a massive two points dropped in the context of the season,
06:25and I think a lot of the decisions that Sunderland made didn't work out, which is really,
06:28really disappointing, because as I said, it's not really something we've talked about too much this
06:32season. Excuse me, for the last minute I've been waiting to cough, so I'm going to do it now before
06:36I go into your questions, so just turn the sound off for 10 seconds maybe, my apologies. So
06:45as you can imagine, so many of the questions in the comments across both Blue Sky and YouTube
06:50were all really along a very similar theme, which I totally understand, so I'm just going to read a
06:54raft of them out now, and I'll just talk a little bit around some of the themes that come up. So
06:58Ross says, is this one on the breeze? Which I think, I'm assuming Ross that you're talking
07:02about the team selection, I think I'm fair to take that. Tom Shiny says, Regis totally got the
07:07formation wrong, why did we need Sam Ed in today? We just weren't brave enough, and the changes
07:13totally nullified Job, who never got into the game. Scott says, seeing the wrong day to start,
07:17Sam Ed looked negative selection from the start, the tactics slowed everything down on a day we
07:22needed to look positive and get the ball forward quick. Two up top would have shown real intent
07:26that we were going to have a go. David says, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but it looked
07:30very much like our staff had overthought Clemens' reaction to their midweek drubbing. It seemed like
07:34we set up expecting a really hard game against the side of Drift at the bottom. Getting Sally's
07:38minutes of future games seemed to totally disrupt the side. Mr Smith says, what was RLB doing
07:44experimenting with the squad? And yeah, similar theme, loads of questions over on YouTube about
07:51that decision to start with Sam Ed. So, we asked Labriece about his decision to play Sam Ed after
07:56the game. As I've said at the start, I didn't think it was the right game for Sam Ed to come
08:02into. I didn't feel it was a game in which Sonnen needed an orthodox defensive midfielder. There is
08:06an irony in that. I think there have been plenty of games over the last couple of seasons where
08:09Sonnen would have needed one and not had one. I didn't feel this was that game. Labriece,
08:14basically what he said was, the first thing, to be fair, that he said was, listen, when you look
08:19at the result and where the game went, maybe it wasn't the best decision. He absolutely held his
08:22hands up to that. His argument was that we need a bigger squad. We need to have more players
08:29connected with the team. We need to have more players who we can trust to play games, to start
08:33games, to come off the bench and impact games. The squad has been too thin all season. The only
08:37way to do that is to get them in the team. We have to find opportunities to play them.
08:41So, that was his reason. I think it's important as well, certainly from my perspective, one of
08:46the things I've been critical about all season is that the squad has been too thin. There haven't
08:51been enough options to change the game from the bench. Too often, Sonnen have tied in games.
08:56So, I don't want to be overly hypocritical and criticise Labriece for trying to introduce a
09:00player who can potentially be a really important option in the weeks ahead. However, as I said,
09:06I just feel like it wasn't quite the right game. I agree with all the comments, really, that I think
09:11this was a game where actually Dan Neal, in a more defensive midfield role, would have actually
09:15served the team better. But Labriece did say that while he accepts that it wasn't a decision
09:20that worked out today, he still thinks it's something that could have a positive impact
09:23going forward because Sam Edds has got more minutes under his belt. So, it's one of those
09:28things. I don't think it was a decision that worked on the day. But hopefully, Labriece's
09:32confidence that this will positively impact the team going forward will come true. The other thing
09:39I would say on that is that I really did anticipate Roberts playing for Riguez. I did think that was
09:43the right decision. I thought Riguez looked a little bit tired in the last couple of games.
09:47A player of his age, I didn't have any problem whatsoever with him sitting out this game. I
09:51didn't think it was a bad call. But the Sam Edds one certainly took me by surprise. And let's see
09:55over the coming weeks whether that one is justified. Craig says, my question would be,
10:01how does... This is over on YouTube. That's underneath our instant reaction video. So,
10:05thanks, Craig, for sending that in. How does Sam Edds fit into our set of midfield going forward?
10:09Neil and Job had poor games. If that's our midfield three, it worries me for the future
10:13matches. I do think, Craig, there'll be games where Sam Edds is really, really useful. I think
10:17his positional discipline, his tackling. I think there'll be games where we look at that. I think
10:23that's a really safe option. I think it's something that the squad's not really had for a
10:26long time. I really like that we've got that option. I do see that aspect of it as positive.
10:31I thought that Job definitely wasn't at his best yesterday. Was that because the team around him
10:37wasn't at his best? Was it because Plymouth just didn't give him enough space and he thrives on
10:40slightly more open games where he can really drive with the ball? Not sure exactly what the reason
10:45is. I do think it's going to take a little bit of time for Neil to get back to playing in that
10:49position. It's actually quite a long time since he's played as an ace in a 4-3-3. I don't,
10:54personally, Craig, I don't have any concerns about that aspect of it. I think he will find his feet
10:58pretty quickly when he gets used to that role. So, I do think there are scenarios where Sam
11:04might play as Craig and I think it would work, but I'm not sure yesterday was the day for that.
11:10Let's have a look at some of your other questions. So, there was another fairly big theme, really,
11:16that came up and that was about the late goals. So, Andy over on Blue Skies says,
11:20we are currently in net minus 10, including the missed penalties at Burnley,
11:24for dropped points in the last 10 minutes of the season. What do you put that down to?
11:29Yeah, I think it's a really interesting question. A few of you over on YouTube are concerned,
11:32asking about the late goals habit as well. So, here's another comment on YouTube. 36% of our
11:39goals are considered to be in the last 10 minutes. Nobody outplays us over 90 minutes,
11:43so why are we dropping off late in matches? Manager's instruction or getting edgy as a team
11:46or both? It's a really difficult question that I don't have the answer to. I find the second goal
11:52yesterday quite hard one to understand because if you look at Sunderland's set-up at that time,
11:57they've got four natural centre-halves on the pitch and Trae Hulme as well, he's an excellent
12:01defender. It's quite hard to understand how those players should be able to deal with that
12:08passage of play, in my opinion. I think it's a cross into the box, it's another cross into the
12:13box, the ball bounces around the box. I think Sunderland had the right personnel on the pitch
12:18to deal with that sort of approach and that passage of play. So, it's quite a difficult one
12:22to understand how that happened. Really, really disappointing. I don't know exactly what is
12:26behind Sunderland's late goal issues, other than to say that it is a major issue. I had quite a
12:32strong opinion on this earlier in the season, which I think I probably talked about on the
12:35whistle. I do think earlier in the season it was symptomatic of the fact that Sunderland's squad
12:39was far too small at the time. I felt that quite often we were seeing games, especially away from
12:44home, where Sunderland would have a lead and then at the start of the second half, the opposition
12:48manager would just keep throwing players on. Every time you look up, there would be another two
12:52players emerging from the dugout to come on. Because of the way things were with injuries
12:57Sunderland just didn't really have those options. I felt that was a massive factor and why for a
13:01while they were conceding late goals. I felt they were just lacking freshness. I thought they were
13:05getting tired and I thought the opposition was able to wrestle the momentum. It's harder to make
13:09that excuse now because Sunderland are in a position where they have good players coming
13:12off the bench. As I mentioned, I know there was some criticism of Lebris putting on too many
13:19defenders and inviting pressure. I understand that argument. At the same time, I think Lebris
13:23will say that what he put those players on was to deal with exactly what Plymouth did for the
13:28second goal and it's hard to understand why it happened. I do think it's something Lebris said
13:33he's really worried about and he's going to review. I don't feel I have the answer as much
13:37as I did earlier in the season where I definitely felt it was in part a fatigue thing. It'll be
13:43interesting to see. It's certainly something I'll ask about next time I see Lebris when he's had a
13:47bit more time to think and reflect on that. But certainly the second goal yesterday, for all I
13:52thought Plymouth deserved it, it's one that Sunderland should be able to deal with. So that
13:55was really disappointing and there's no two ways about it. It's a big Achilles heel for the Sunderland
13:59team at the moment. Another couple of questions kind of along a similar theme but that I thought
14:06were really good questions. So Rob asked about Hjelda coming on when Aushish and Pavade are on
14:13the bench, essentially arguing that it would have been better to bring on a sort of more positive
14:18left-wing option, someone who could carry the ball. I think I can understand a little bit with
14:23Pavade who's obviously only had 45 minutes in the under-21s in midweek. He hasn't played any
14:29senior football since October so I can understand a little bit of caution with that and when the
14:33game was so finely poised. Maybe it's one where if Sunderland were well ahead in the game they
14:37would have looked to get 15-20 minutes. I do agree with you Rob that Lefebvre tired. I thought he was
14:42Sunderland's best player in the first half by quite a distance. I thought he struggled to impact the
14:46second half and I would have maybe considered bringing Aushish on earlier. That's definitely
14:53something I would have looked at doing although you know I'm always hindsight's an easy thing.
14:58But yeah that is so I do agree to an extent that I would have made maybe considerably earlier in
15:03the half. You can understand why he wanted to keep Lefebvre on because he's got that bit of magic in
15:08his boots hasn't he but I definitely think he tired. Michael says, can see why Rajeece is trying to
15:13get Samhead some minutes. I think the real issue we had was the lack of width. There's Plinthson
15:17quite helping to clog the middle where I think any combination of centre midfielders would have
15:20struggled. It shows how much we miss Mundell and maybe we should look at adding another wide player.
15:25I think that's a great observation Michael. I do agree with you. I think that you know I think
15:30especially because Sunderland's game is really sort of set up to get opposition to get the ball
15:36to those wide players earlier. I definitely think yesterday although I've said Lefebvre was
15:39Sunderland's best player in the first half I definitely think they missed Mundell and Dora
15:43Watson especially in the second half. I think that would have made a big difference and I think your
15:47comment about looking at another wide player is really perceptive. I think it's definitely
15:52something that Sunderland will be considering although we know we hope that Mundell and Watson
15:56will be back in the next couple of weeks. A few of you over on YouTube were asking about the January
16:01transfer window and what's happening to the strikers. So I'll just kind of put those both
16:06into one if you like and talk about it. You know we've spoken to Lebris quite a bit and listen I
16:11think everybody knows that the tri-side Tom Cannon he's a player that Lebris really really likes.
16:16They were reluctant to spend the money that Sheffield United have in an upfront payment.
16:20I think they would have committed to a huge transfer fee you know north of 10 million
16:26if it was a loan that becomes a buy in that and if Sunderland win promotion and Sheffield United
16:33prepare to put that money up front that's a huge fine that would have been a huge financial risk in
16:37Sunderland's position without parachute payments. I think what they're looking at now is you know
16:42although it wasn't Meander's best game off the bench yesterday I think you've made an interesting
16:47point Michael because I think what they're thinking now is that do we get another out and out number
16:52nine or do we get a player who can operate in a few different positions and give us a bit more
16:56versatility and also give us something a bit different from those wide areas when we're not
17:00entirely sure exactly how many of them what's going to recover from their injury so I think
17:04it's something they're considering Michael. I think what they would like is a player who
17:08can do a bit of everything in that final third and the thing that Lebris has said to us as well
17:12when we've asked him about it it's the main thing he wants is some more speed in behind
17:17so he's not too fussed if it's a natural number nine if it's a left winger who can play through
17:22the middle whether it's a player who's a striker but can play off the left and the main thing he
17:26wants is more speed in behind and I think that's so hopefully that gives you a bit of an insight
17:30into what they're looking for I don't know when that player will arrive I think that search is
17:35still very much ongoing and time's ticking away but hopefully it's something that someone can
17:38get done because I think they definitely need another player in that final third hopefully
17:43Pivard it can be a little bit part of that puzzle but I do think it's
17:49important something to recruit a little bit more and the last question I've got was
17:54yeah so Chris says does the approach to transfers in the last week of January we still feel
17:59short of genuine game changes that can make an impact now so yeah obviously you've got
18:03Mundell and Watson to put into the mix over the next month at Pivard as well hopefully but yes
18:09Chris I don't think it changes the approach but I think it maybe underlines the fact that
18:13you know another forward player could make a big difference and I think that's definitely
18:17something we'll be looking at and Joe says can you give
18:21four points away at the bottom team and still be in the mix well look something are in the mix
18:26they are you know anything can happen in the championship the teams still around each other
18:30still got to play each other so you know something they've definitely got an opportunity but I do
18:34agree with you and as I said at the start of this video I think this was two really important points
18:38that have been dropped a lot of credit to Plymouth for the way they applied themselves the way they
18:42responded to what they'd been through over the past week don't forget as well Morgan Whitaker
18:46their best player for a long period of time sold to Middlesbrough the day before the game so an
18:51impressive performance from them in the circumstances but really disappointing from
18:54Sunland perspective you know they're definitely still in the race for the top two but this felt
18:57like a really big opportunity missed and so there we go thanks so much for sending all your questions
19:02and comments in and hope you enjoyed the video I will be back and for sure after the Middlesbrough
19:08game a week on Monday but I may we may look at doing some transfer video and before that and
19:14depending on how the week develops so just keep your keep your eyes peeled as ever stacks of
19:19content over on the Sunland Deco website which you can go and read including Lebrice's quotes on
19:23why he picked Sam Ed in full as well so that can give you a bit more insight so yeah thanks very
19:27much for watching and see you soon