Fan Letters: "We now know how valuable Luke O'Nien is to Sunderland!"

12/12/2024 09:49

Reflections on Tuesday's scrappy draw with Bristol City and Sunderland's style of play are in the RR mailbox today. Got something to say? Email us: RokerReport@yahoo.co.uk

Dear Roker Report,

At least now we know how much we need Luke O'Nien, and supporters can now lay off him.

Without his ability to carry the ball out quickly and set up an attack, we were lost. Dan Ballard and Chris Mepham are good defenders, but they don't have what Luke has.

Next, I thought the Tony Mowbray era had gone, but evidently not.

Our ability to pass the ball backwards and sideways through that era was undeniable and the stats proved it. Against Bristol City, we again saw that our three centre backs, Ballard, Mepham and Dan Neil (yes, that's where he played) must've had the ball more than any other Sunderland player on the field.

All three played the ball purposefully across and back slowly enough for the opposition to amass their defence in preparation to repel our attacks. It's not the type of football to win games or to get the fans on the edge of their seats.

Where's the high-pressing football that we were promised? Has this new coach brought a new style to the club? Please, let's get back to entertaining the fans with free flowing football. Boring football is not for the Stadium Of Light.

Bill Fisher

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Bill. Thank you for your letter.

Tuesday night's performance was immensely frustrating and I do agree that at the moment, we've drifted away from the style of football that served us so well earlier in the season, and that we're finding the going a lot tougher, with our play having become somewhat ponderous and often disjointed in attack.

Luke O'Nien was certainly a miss against Bristol City (even though Dan Ballard was actually quite solid alongside Chris Mepham) and for me, in games where we want to build from the back, it has to be O'Nien who gets the nod.

There's currently nothing wrong that can't be fixed, and we do remain in a promising league position, but I'd like to see Régis Le Bris show a little more tactical flexibility, as well as being more proactive with his use of substitutes, so that we can alter the dynamics of a game when things aren't going to plan.

It's crucial to our chances of success this season.

Dear Roker Report,

I promised to keep my thoughts to myself until 2025, but I'm so frustrated that I'll have to have my say.

Here we go: insipid, slow, predictable, over-confident, and weak. It's the seventy fifth minute and the manager swaps a left back for a left back. Are Wilson Isidor and Chris Rigg still on the pitch?

We've been the same for weeks.

P.S: Rigg and Isidor have just been substituted!

Alan Jackson

Ed's Note [Phil]: Hi, Alan. Thank you for getting in touch.

I certainly share your frustrations in the wake of Tuesday night's game, as it was a real struggle for Sunderland and the second half display in particular was completely lifeless until Adil Aouchiche and Patrick Roberts combined to bank us a scarcely-deserved point.

It seems a little strange to be feeling slightly peeved at recent results, given that we remain very firmly in the race for the top six, but the past six to eight weeks have been filled with missed opportunities to reaffirm our promotion credentials, and the questions are stacking up for Régis Le Bris.

We're a talented yet inconsistent team, but I do believe that if changes are made and greater flexibility is shown (along with some good signings being made next month) we can challenge strongly for the remainder of the season.