Sunderland drew 1-1 with Millwall in the Championship this afternoon, but it was a far from impressive performance.
Sunderland went into this game on the back of consecutive defeats which have really piled the pressure on boss Tony Mowbray.
The experienced Football League boss is coming under the spotlight with his Sunderland side slipping away from the play-off places and playing poorly in the Championship.
And today’s performance was another fairly turgid one.
Although the Black Cats got a point in the end, it was hard work, and against a Millwall side who could quickly fall into a relegation scrap.
Very few Sunderland players come out of that game with any praise, though one man stood out in particular as having a bad game; Abdoullah Ba.
Abdoullah Ba stats vs Millwall
Sunderland were woeful in the first half, and Ba was especially so, with reporter Michael Graham stating that the Frenchman was ‘especially awful’.
Soon into the second half, Ba was brought off along with Mason Burstow, and Adil Aouchiche, bringing an end to a rather miserable afternoon for all three.
But it was Ba who stood out as having a particularly poor game.
As per Sofascore, he managed just 23 touches in the game and 11 accurate passes; to put that into some perspective, Niall Huggins had the most touches (102) and Luke O’Nien the most accurate passes (67).
On top of that, Ba failed to record a single block, clearance, or interception, with one tackle to his name, and 0/2 dribbles completed.
Ba has now featured 18 times in the Championship this season, scoring two and assisting one.
After coming into the XI in place of Patrick Roberts earlier in the season, and managing to impress, Ba’s form has tailed off along with his side’s league form.
Can Tony Mowbray turn it around?
It’s looking like a tough situation right now.
Sunderland’s summer business looked promising at first but it’s the same issue as last season; strikers.
The strikers they have are poor and Mowbray is being forced to play either without one on the field or with an attacking midfielder up top a lot of time.
And the likes of Jack Clarke have lost form, along with Ba, with these wide players struggling to get on the mark during this tough vein of form.
Whilst it looks like this group of players needs someone with new and innovative ideas, whoever comes in will still have the same problems that Mowbray is having now.
It’s easy to forget though that Sunderland are just in their second season back in the Championship and still in mid-table, and in with a chance of top six.
Up next is a game vs West Brom at the Stadium of Light next weekend.