When Dick Advocaat overturned his decision to retire at the end of last season, Sunderland fans rejoiced in their new saviour. He picked up the pieces of Gus Poyet’s underwhelming era and created a resilient side that only lost three times out of nine games under his watch, saving Sunderland from relegation and an away day at Huddersfield. A promising conclusion to the season had filled fans with optimism for the next campaign, but two bad losses against Leicester and Norwich suggested that they are in for another tough season.
In those two games, there was a long list of errors that shouldn’t be seen in the Premier League, but, rather in non-league football. Ball watching, lack of pressing and tackling, and poor positioning is among the list that Advocaat must address and resolve if his side wants to retain their Premier League status, and prolong his own career. However, their performance against Swansea shows signs that The General’s Black Cats could survive another year in the league.
Their defensive performance against Swansea indicated that their existing defenders can hold their own against a top side. Three of the back four from last week’s calamitous showing against Norwich started in the Swansea game, and oozed a lot more character and focus this time around. While there was some individual errors from Patrick van Aanholt, moments of luck and poor communication, Sunderland still looked like a side that were facing their problems. Perhaps it was the return of John O’Shea who, bar an awkward header away in the first half, had a solid game commanding his defensive partners. Or, perhaps the extra work with defensive coaches. Or, maybe it was even the royal debriefing his manager gave the team on Monday. Whatever happened, it worked. But, it must continue from now on to prevent another tense end to their season.
Going into this fixture, I really feared for Sunderland against Swansea; Garry Monk’s side stood toe-to-toe with Chelsea and brushed past a Newcastle side still trying to figure out its own identity under Steve McClaren, and could have easily beaten another North East side. Surprisingly, they didn’t. A more focused back line, more communication, better attacking intent and improved team cohesion suggested that there’s more fight to this Sunderland side, something that needs to be displayed every week to appease the Mackem faithful.
Another factor of Sunderland’s encouraging performance was Costel Pantilimon’s excellent one-man show; a solid display that surely ruined a few football accumulators. His saves against Jonjo Shelvey and Bafétimbi Gomis showed how key a decent goalkeeper is for a lower league side and, regardless of Sunderland’s defensive concerns, Pantilimon must stand tall and be a one-man wall for Sunderland. The likes of David de Gea and Petr Cech have shown how a keeper can win their respective teams’ points in tight games, and be the difference between a hard fought win and an unlucky draw. The Romanian must step up to become a reliable player of Advocaat’s Sunderland side and prove his worth during another testing season.
Like any other relegation contenders, Sunderland have a chance of survival, however big or small. If O’Shea can keep fit and lead the defence, Pantilimon can become a reliable goalkeeper and individual players can learn from their mistakes, Sunderland can survive yet again. But, I fear that if the North East side doesn’t resolve their problems, they could fall back into their regular routine of poor results, sacking their manager, hiring a new boss before performing a great escape, recruiting new players poorly, and then crumble again. Let’s just hope Dick Advocaat doesn’t regret postponing his retirement.
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