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Sunderland were beaten 2-0 away at Oxford United on Saturday in a game which one Black Cats expert thought exposed two glaring areas of concern for Regis Le Bris ahead of the play-offs.
Sunderland were beaten 2-0 at Oxford United on Saturday in their penultimate game of the regular Championship season with the play-offs only weeks away.
Regis Le Bris’ side will finish in fourth in the Championship table, the spot they’ve occupied for several weeks, when the final day fixtures curtail this weekend.
Since their play-off place was confirmed, Le Bris has opted to rest and rotate his starting eleven, leading to the Black Cats losing four on the spin.
With their worrying form coming just weeks ahead of the play-offs, one Sunderland expert has shared two glaring areas of concern Le Bris must remedy that are putting Premier League promotion at risk.
Sunderland expert concerned by performance vs Oxford United
Gary Rowett’s U’s beat Sunderland by two goals thanks to strikes from Ben Nelson and Michal Helik, to which the visiting Black Cats had no reply.
Le Bris’ claim about the starting side backfired, with the Black Cats “best” eleven failing to lay a glove on Oxford and shipping two soft goals in the process. The head coach has demanded a “shift” from Sunderland into “play-offs mode” but there was very little evidence of that at the Kassam Stadium.
In the wake of their latest defeat, Sunderland Echo reporter Phil Smith commented on the two major areas of concern for Le Bris, that must be remedied ahead of the play-offs.
Smith said via the Sunderland Echo: “There was two things about the performance that concerned me from a Sunderland point of view. One is that I thought Oxford out ran them, they clearly wanted it more.
“They out fought Sunderland, they won most of the second balls, the intensity and the energy from Sunderland was really, really poor.
“I do think there’s obviously a little bit of game state in that, in terms of this was a massive game for Oxford, with Luton winning in the early kick-off it meant that it pretty much became certainly a must-not-lose game for them, their season, their Championship status was on the line.
“Sunderland for all they talked about lifting the intensity, I think everyone from Sunderland, within the dressing room, staff would say that the energy wasn’t there and that wasn’t good enough.”
Smith’s autopsy of the defeat was proven by the statistics, with Le Bris’ side second best in most defensive metrics. Oxford won more tackles (13) than Sunderland (9), more interceptions (8 to 3) and won more ground duels (41 to 36) than the Black Cats did despite the hosts enjoying only 31 percent possession.
The Black Cats were toothless in the Oxford defeat, but even more than their lack of intensity and application, onlooking Smith also lamented how “poor” Sunderland were in attack which bodes unequivocal fears with the play-offs looming.
Sunderland expert’s biggest concern ahead of play-offs after Oxford United defeat
Sunderland have failed to find the net since Eliezer Mayenda’s stunning solo goal in the 2-1 defeat at Bristol City on Good Friday, conceding three with no reply in their two losses since then against Blackburn Rovers and Oxford.
Since the March international break, Sunderland’s lack of potency in front of goal has been evident, finding the net only three times in seven games. With the play-offs in sight, the Black Cats’ goal drought is also a major concern for Smith, making Le Bris’ claims about Sunderland’s best eleven at Oxford all the more alarming.
Smith added: “The second thing really which is an even bigger concern, is just how poor Sunderland were in an attacking sense.
“I thought that a lot of the the game it was quite hard to work out how they were trying to score a goal.
“From an attacking perspective the performance was really, really poor. That’s the thing that worries me at the moment really because that was not far off the team that is going to play in the play-offs, and yet Sunderland were so poor in their attacking play.
“This is a trend that Sunderland aren’t creating chances, that there’s not much fluidity in their game. I’m a little bit worried about where the goals and the chances are going to come from at the moment because there aren’t a lot of players who are threatening the goal on a regular basis.”
Sunderland’s play-off record is already worrying, but adding in their lack of intensity and attacking threat, they could be heading for disappointment next month if not remedied by Le Bris and his side.