Sunderland’s draw against Watford highlighted how Regis Le Bris isn’t getting the very best out of one ace, despite his best efforts.
The Black Cats drew at the Stadium of Light, as they were held at 2-2 against Tom Cleverley’s Watford.
Sunderland’s performance was incredibly reminiscent of their previous showing at home against Plymouth Argyle, which also ended 2-2, and was characterised by Regis Le Bris’ overly-defensive shape. This was once again the case against the Hornets, with Salis Abdul Samed starting in midfield, meaning that Wilson Isidor was isolated up front by himself for large quantities of the game.
Whilst the French attacker suffered the most from the defensive shape, there was another Sunderland ace that had his abilities limited, despite showing that he can make a vital difference on the front foot.
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Regis Le Bris tactic vs Watford hindered Sunderland ace Trai Hume
Coming up against a massively out-of-form Watford side on Wearside, Sunderland had to show a bit of bite in the final third to see off their opposition with ease, but this simply wasn’t the case.
Tallying a total of just three more shots towards goal than Watford doesn’t signify a dominant home performance that Sunderland were expected to put in, and that comes down to that defensive shape utilised.
One man that suffered as a result of the shape deployed was Trai Hume, who, per SofaScore, held a very deep average position in comparison to fellow full-back Dennis Cirkin.
Admittedly, Hume had the qualities of Watford star and Georgian international Giorgi Chakvetadze to deal with, but beyond him was Yasser Larouci, a full-back that thrives on the front foot, but alternatively can look rather shaky on the defensive side.
Hume did bag an assist to set up Luke O’Nien for his goal, but it was from a set-piece.
Giving Trai Hume attacking freedom will have incredible knock-on effect for Regis Le Bris’ side
One of the main concerns throughout the clash with Watford was Isidor being isolated at striker, something that would be helped if Le Bris was to play two up front, but alternatively, if the French coach shows resilience in continuing to deploy such a shape, he needs to give Hume the license to bomb forward.
The Sunderland right-back would have created several more opportunities at the weekend, and whilst his showing was more than solid, the fact that he is the Black Cats’ 3rd highest assist-maker, ahead of the likes of Jobe Bellingham, just shows how important he is to the side in going forward, and limiting his ability to do this will ultimately affect the side negatively in the final third.