Sunderland Opposition Analysis —
During Phil Parkinson’s reign at Sunderland he used a 3-atb prominently, in particular this season a 352, but his replacement Lee Johnson has used a 433 and, most recently a 442.
Using @experimental361‘s xG table, Sunderland rank highly & perhaps should be higher than they are in the league table.
The last 2 games against ‘weaker’ opposition Sunderland haven’t performed great. They were perhaps fortunate at times against Shrewsbury & despite dominating the game against Plymouth they allowed them high quality chances & didn’t create enough.
Stat Comparisons -
Going forwards Sunderland rank impressively in a number of statistics, like us they have as fair share of the possession but unlike us they can convert this dominance of the ball into touches in the box & shots on goal.
Defensively Sunderland once again rank well, top of L1 for shots against, xG against & goals conceded. Looking at their PPDA (passes per defensive action) & challenge intensity (defensive actions per minute of opposition possession) Sunderland will press us high.
In possession -
Sunderland have some variance when the ball is at the back, able to go long into Wyke/go short into CB’s from the GK. When they play into the CB’s they will look to play into the FB’s or will play a chipped ball into Wyke, they rarely play into midfield.
When building out they will focus on using the right side of side pitch where RB Max Power is. He is a converted midfielder so has a good passing range that can be utilised in build up. When played into him he will look to play forwards, with either a switch/a ball into Wyke.
The wide positioning of Diamond on the right wing drags the FB across, leaving space open for Wyke to drop into who can then potentially find Diamond with a first time pass to get in behind & get a ball into the box.
As previously stated when building out Sunderland focus on playing to the RB Max Power. The LCB, Bailey Wright is right footed so he will look to play centrally or to his right due to his stronger foot & passing angles. Sunderland often use switch balls to find him in space.
The CMs sit in the channel in between the CB & FB in build up to allow the FB forwards while the other CM sits in between the CB’s. This means Sunderland are more comfortable playing out as they have better passers of the ball in those areas although it leaves the centre vacant.
The midfield pivot in Sunderland’s team work well together & have a decent balance between a controller in Leadbitter & a more dynamic CM in Scowen. They can be overrun in midfield sometimes numerically & the lack of athleticism from Leadbitter doesn’t help this.
Aidan McGeady on the LW looks to come inside which helps Bailey Wright playing out from the back & gives McFadzean the space to get forwards. The movement of McGeady then means Sunderland have a player between the lines & the left sided striker can then run in behind.
O’Brien is the striker who generally runs channels more so than Wyke although they do rotate. O’Brien is the one who plays on the left hence why we see him run in behind more.
Whoever is on the right will always look to drop off whereas the one on the left gets in behind.
An example is here where the right striker drops bringing the CB with him creating space for the left striker.
There is a reason Sunderland have this rule, if the right striker drops off he can then get close to the RW, who holds width, & can create space in behind for the RW.
On the left the striker running in behind can pin defences back therefore creating space for McGeady to operate in between the lines, where he likes to be, this then allows the LB to overlap.
When the ball is on the left wing in the final 3rd Scowen will come support, mostly covering for McFadzean, while Leadbitter sits deep centrally. They will look to get to the byline in these areas & get crosses into the back post.
When the ball is on the left the RB, Max Power, will look to get into or around the box as another option at the back post but when the ball is in the final 3rd on the right he will sit deeper as Diamond provides the width, this allows Leadbitter to stay central.
A common pattern here is Sunderland’s preference to create chances through crossing & will always look to Wyke. On the left wing they will cross into the back post & when on the right wing, Diamond will look more towards the near post when crossing.
Being able to defend narrow & defend the box well, like Posh did to us last time out, will be very important for us to stop Sunderland going forwards as it is one of the only threats the possess.
Out of possession -
Off the ball Sunderland setup in a 442 formation & press their opponent very high. VS Shrewsbury, pressing high forced them into a number of mistakes at the back which Sunderland couldn’t quite take advantage of.
If Sunderland use a 442 they will press as shown below, I imagine we will be forced long a lot due to their press. Their front 2 will be tasked with pressing our CBs as well as marking the passing lanes into our DM’s. Their 2 wingers as expected will mark & press our FBs.
One major area Sunderland can be exploited when we’re building up is between the lines. Due to their high press they will leave spaces between midfield & defence. Using a 4231 can occupy the 2 Sunderland CM’s leaving Bishop open as the spare man
Another area we can exploit in build up is using the half spaces. Using narrow positioning of our DMs & wide positioning of our FBs will exploit these areas. For this to happen we need our wingers to come inside & constantly show for the ball & take on half turn to drive.
As mentioned when in possession Sunderland’s CM’s go wide in build up a lot, this often leaves central areas extremely open. An example is below when Sunderland had the ball vs Shrewsbury where there is a huge area of the pitch completely open for 4 Shrewsbury players.
This leaves Sunderland very open in transition when they lose the ball. Getting the ball into Bishop, Edwards & Thomas between the lines when we win the ball to drive forwards will be very important in breaking Sunderland down.
Sunderland have a narrow structure when pressing & when in a low block so are very prone to switches of play due to being attracted to one side of the pitch. This is something we did early on in the season but have now stopped as a result of the dip in form from Ward & Chambers.
