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Sunderland (H)

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As good as our attack is, they need to still physically create chances to score which can be stopped.

We could really use a few players that can just hit them from long range. Gerrard, Murphy, Berger, Redknapp, Fowler, Garcia. Mainly Berger.
I initially lolled at this,then thought you might be serious?
 
Yeah, Kevin Friend was awful. Really horrendous.

We were extremely nervous for the last 20 mins. Flanno especially was awful at their goal. Very poor
The ball should have been headed away at the front post from the two center halves.
Flanagan was caught ball watching and was poor for it but it's not entirely his fault.
 
H
A proper grind it out game. Which is what you need at that stage.

Except it wasn't. It was a nice, cruising game that a fecking IDIOT of a ref turned into a tricky second half. He's one of these FAKE refs who think if they only decide beforehand to favour the home side or the away side, or hurl cards early on or keep them for late on, he'll look okay - no matter what actually happens. The reality is he's fecking joke who doesn't have the balls to react in real time. It's always pre-planned in every match I've seen him. He's a quivering coward who shouldn't be let anywhere near big games.
He's no Friend of mine.
 
John O Shea really should have put that chance away at the end too.
Thankfully Sunderland lacked that bit of quality because we weren't at the races for the last 15 minutes.
I suppose we were playing 12 men too which is a massive disadvantage.
 
I initially lolled at this,then thought you might be serious?

Yes. The team is getting really good at moving the ball around outside the box, then the wide player cuts it back and it ends up with Johnson trying to dribble into the area. It would help to have a player that can just run onto the lose ball and take a shot before it gets to johnson
 
The ball should have been headed away at the front post from the two center halves.
Flanagan was caught ball watching and was poor for it but it's not entirely his fault.

Poor by Skrtel and Agger, but Flanno is ball watching and loses his man easily.
Very poor defending.
If Flanno stays with Ki its a different story.
 
If Coutinho added goals to his game he could be something really special.

Coutinho, Henderson and Allen are all next to useless when it comes to shooting, as you say if Coutinho could add goals he would be some player, some of his play tonight was brilliant, pure football magic.
 
IMO Coutinho is better in front of goal, and has a better shot, than what he's shown this season. I remember feeling the same about Suarez when he missed lots of chances in his first 18 months with us.

I think Coutinho will add the goals sooner rather than later.

Allen and Henderson are a different story. It'd make a real difference if we had a midfielder who just had something a bit extra in terms of attacking threat, be it a good shot, finishing ability, or a creative pass. They're both just glorified water carriers, really.
 
IMO Coutinho is better in front of goal, and has a better shot, than what he's shown this season. I remember feeling the same about Suarez when he missed lots of chances in his first 18 months with us.

I think Coutinho will add the goals sooner rather than later.

Allen and Henderson are a different story. It'd make a real difference if we had a midfielder who just had something a bit extra in terms of attacking threat, be it a good shot, finishing ability, or a creative pass. They're both just glorified water carriers, really.
Are you serious?? Hendo has a great eye for a killer pass and has proved it time and time again this season.

It's not easy to unlock a defense that has 5 playing narrow with 2 more sitting in front of them and are camped in the edge of their own box
 
Maybe I'm forgetting some. I seem to remember him doing it a few times but not consistently. I grant you he's much more of a goal threat than Allen, though. His is non-existent.
 
Maybe I'm forgetting some. I seem to remember him doing it a few times but not consistently. I grant you he's much more of a goal threat than Allen, though. His is non-existent.
Agreed Allen isn't exactly creating much but I think he's given our midfield a much needed balance and we don't seem to be getting overrun near as much when we lose the ball with him in the side.

Hendo off the top of my head played the killer ball to Johnson against Cardiff, set up 2 goals earlier this year with outrageous back heels, slipped in Suarez and Sturridge a number of times and has scored a few himself.

The Spurs Away game alone is enough to show he can do it (perhaps when gerrard plays he feels obliged to pass it safe to him more often than not as he wasn't in the team at Spurs)

Agree he should be scoring more but he definitely is far more than a glorified water carrier
 
Maybe I'm forgetting some. I seem to remember him doing it a few times but not consistently. I grant you he's much more of a goal threat than Allen, though. His is non-existent.

Hendo can pick a pass, Cardiff the other day for our first goal is a good recent example, im sure Allen can also not that we have seen much evidence of it, he hasn't played as much this season tbf.

I sort of agree with your glorified water carrier description of them both, its a bit harsh on Hendo but can see what you mean, i think we can and should be looking to improve on them by buying a top class attacking midfielder this summer, not sure that we will though as other areas are in more urgent need of fixing.

Maybe we will go the punt/cheaper option in that position and go for Morrison, i know you rate him as well.

Seen Delph get mentioned around a bit, i would hate that signing, hes 24 years old, would be around 15 mill after the decent season he has had and would he even be an improvement? doubt it very much, il'd rather pay an extra 10 and get a 25 mill player from Europe or go for the Morrison option who has Delphs drive and pace and a whole lot more and is only 21 and cheaper.
 
Agreed Allen isn't exactly creating much but I think he's given our midfield a much needed balance and we don't seem to be getting overrun near as much when we lose the ball with him in the side.

Hendo off the top of my head played the killer ball to Johnson against Cardiff, set up 2 goals earlier this year with outrageous back heels, slipped in Suarez and Sturridge a number of times and has scored a few himself.

The Spurs Away game alone is enough to show he can do it (perhaps when gerrard plays he feels obliged to pass it safe to him more often than not as he wasn't in the team at Spurs)

Agree he should be scoring more but he definitely is far more than a glorified water carrier

Hendos best games this season/in his Liverpool career have been when Gerrard isn't in the team, he cranked it up a level or 2 when Gerrard wasn't there.
 
He was wank at Swansea though wasn't he?

Here's a good read about that, by a Korean poster in a Sunderland forum in January. I can't quite recall where Ki was played when he was with Swansea, so I'll take the poster's word for it. He certainly wasn't eye-catching for them, for sure.

If Sunderland stay up and he remains in charge, I wouldn't mind seeing us loan him one of our youngsters needing minutes next season.

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Hello Sunderland Supporters,

Nice to see Sunderland turning its fortunes around. And for a Korean like myself looking ahead to the World Cup, its encouraging to see Ki getting into form.

I support another club, but living up somewhat to the notoriety of my countrymen (who become instant fans of whichever team that buys a Korean), I do go around to the team forums of Korean EPL players to gauge the latest opinions of our players. And these days, there is no better club to lurk in than Sunderland's.

Given that Ki Sung Yueng (actually pronounced Gi Song Yong) was known as somewhat of a prodigy when he made headlines at FC Seoul, I've followed his career with great interest. I read the Celtic forums for a while, and the Swansea forums after, and now I'm here.

I'm here out of the shadows for once to give my view of the player. You may read this, think nothing of it, and move on with your day, and that's perfectly fine. But for some of you, it may confirm some suspicions, or dispel some as well. Take it for whatever you will.

For the first time in Ki's career abroad, I'm excited for him because Poyet is the first manager to put him in his best position. Despite what Lennon, or Laudrup or even Ki himself believes, he is a mediocre defensive midfielder. He lacks a certain bite and courage to his game that would make him a proper screen. That's why, in defensive midfield, Catts is definitively better and always will be. I think Poyet has correctly determined that you can't really change a player's character, and Ki will never have the adequate combativeness to be a good defensive midfielder. Like any player with advanced ball control, he will chase and fight for a lost ball, because there is certain pride factor involved with losing the ball yourself. But if his teammate loses the ball, it won't be as big of a concern for him. And therein lies the ceiling to his potential as a defensive midfielder.

Because Lennon and Laudrup failed to see that, they kept playing him at defensive midfield, and what Swansea fans saw was a player who didn't defend all too effectively, and passed the ball in a 20 yard radius. That's like throwing Agbonlahor at left wing and telling people that he's a mediocre winger. I cannot recall how many times I've been frustrated at his managers over the past 4 years for keeping him at defensive midfield, especially considering what I have witnessed from him being further up the pitch for our national team youth set-ups. All the crap you hear from Swansea fans of him being lackadaisical or not having the right attitude is a by-product of misuse of talent. I get furious when I hear such criticisms, because I've followed him longer than Swansea supporters, or Celtic supporters, or FC Seoul supporters, and a lax attitude is not in his make-up.

Ki's best qualities are his passing and vision. I have seen 40 yard, 50 yard through passes from him that other players would never see. To that end, I think he is finally playing where is supposed to be playing, and I think his development will be evident for all to see if he stays at Sunderland until the end of the season. Furthermore, once he puts in that one belter, you will see that this is a player who has a cannons on both feet. He has the potential to score 10+ goals a season from midfield. However, like many, he does have a confidence issue with his shooting. And that is why when he is on the upswing, as he is now, you will start to see that he will start to get his long shots on target, instead of dragging them wide as he did for the first 4-5 months of this season, or even during entirety of his stay at Swansea. In other words, as long as he is in that same position for Sunderland every week until the end of the season, the best is definitely yet to come.

Despite his lanky frame, he is a shockingly flairful (not sure if that is a word) dribbler and I think that he doesn't do his tricks anymore because he's been played so long at the back. Once he starts showing that again, you will see an entirely different player to the one who labored at Swansea. And despite me bashing his defensive qualities earlier, he's actually gotten surprisingly better under Poyet. Not in the sense that he's gained some bite, but more that he's found his ability to play defense effectively in a very Michael Carrick-esque way. It helps him become more well-rounded.

Anyhow, hope some of this is actually interesting to at least one or two of you. At the end of the day, my point is that I'm glad that such an important player for our national team is playing at a team that has found the best way to use him and bring him back to form. I truly do believe that he will finally develop towards his potential under Poyet. And long may it continue. Sometimes players need to understand that its not the standing of the club that is crucial to their development, but the environment and importance their club gives to them. For my own selfish purposes, I hope he stays at Sunderland and helps this club out of the relegation zone.
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The ball should have been headed away at the front post from the two center halves.
Flanagan was caught ball watching and was poor for it but it's not entirely his fault.

Quite, Agger's attempt at a header was pretty embarrassing.
 
IMO Coutinho is better in front of goal, and has a better shot, than what he's shown this season. I remember feeling the same about Suarez when he missed lots of chances in his first 18 months with us.

I think Coutinho will add the goals sooner rather than later.

Allen and Henderson are a different story. It'd make a real difference if we had a midfielder who just had something a bit extra in terms of attacking threat, be it a good shot, finishing ability, or a creative pass. They're both just glorified water carriers, really.

Henderson has a decent number of goals and assists this season, so I can't agree with that, I do think he'll grow in that regard as he keeps coming out of his shell though.

I think Allen will as well, he's going to get better with time in the scoring and assisting side of his game, I was happy to see his jinxing run and shot in the first half yesterday, he's got great technique, and if he takes a few more chances like that, he'll get himself some goals!
 
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