Three of Sunderland’s players have been given an overwhelmingly negative review following the defeat to Hull City.
Sunderland’s defeat to Hull City looks to have ended the Black Cats’ quest for automatic promotion, with the gap stretching to eight points between Regis Le Bris’ side and Sheffield United in 2nd, who have a game in hand set to be played on Monday evening against Leeds United.
Anthony Patterson’s mistake in the Hull City defeat which resulted in an own goal, one that has also been partly blamed on Patrick Roberts, proved to be decisive in the loss that ended 1-0, but the entire Sunderland side wasn’t up to scratch in front of a bumper crowd of 44,000 at the Stadium of Light at the weekend.
The game saw Enzo Le Fee hooked after one half of action, whilst Wilson Isidor saw very little coverage of the ball at striker, and Chris Rigg was often evaded in Sunderland’s attacking play.
It was far from a vintage Black Cats performance, and one EFL expert has highlighted which players in particular were disappointing in the defeat.
Sunderland trio handed ‘non-existent’ verdict following Hull City defeat
The Black Cats had several players struggle to pull their weight in the defeat to the Tigers, except Romaine Mundle, who was one of Sunderland’s rare shining lights on his return to the pitch after a long-term injury. The Black Cats winger replaced Le Fee after an impactless showing in the first half, but he wasn’t alone in providing very little.
EFL expert Justin Peach, per Second Tier Podcast on YouTube, has had his say on the performance and has suggested three players in particular that contributed to a ‘really poor’ showing vs Hull City, where he said: “Getting down to the nitty-gritty of the game, passes were over-hit, Wilson Isidor was isolated quite a lot, and Le Fee was non-existent. Jobe Bellingham struggled to find a groove into the game and with that the key players were non-existent.
“With the key players not really on it, Sunderland just looked weak. I wouldn’t say a complete shambles because I think that’s an over-exaggeration but it was messy at times, it was disorganised, and really frustrating to watch.
“I think this has been the worst performance I think I’ve seen since the turn of the year. This was a really poor game from Sunderland.”
Regis Le Bris tactics must be changed to avoid Wilson Isidor becoming ‘isolated’
Looking at the stats, it is no surprise to see Isidor deemed as ‘isolated’ in the defeat to Hull City, having only recorded a total of 14 touches throughout the 90 minutes, and one of these was from kick-off.
It is clear that a one-striker formation results in inconsistencies from both Isidor and Sunderland and the French forward has already explained that he prefers to play in a two-striker partnership, which was clear in the defeat to Hull City.
Black Cats coach Le Bris must look to accommodate Isidor more, otherwise these inconsistencies will continue to show, and it could certainly be the difference between promotion or not this season.