Why the Leicester defeat was not surprising for Sunderland

Losing on the opening day of the season is always disappointing but the way Sunderland lost against Leicester was beyond that, as the score line could have been much worse. However, not a lot that happened in this match was either new or unexpected – it just highlighted how much work that Lee Congerton and Dick Advocaat have left to do in the transfer market.

The defence was shambolic, but isolating what the issues were both here and further forward begins to highlight what could have been expected. Take the two central defenders; this was the first time that Sebastian Coastes and Younes Kaboul had played together – so instant cohesion was unlikely, and the two played like neither knew what the other was doing. Neither player took control, as the leadership skills of John O’Shea were certainly missed. Furthermore, Kaboul has been prone to an error in the past, and that side of his game was on show for the fourth goal – first with his bad clearance that allowed Leicester to continue to keep the pressure on before following that up with a poor control that presented Marc Albrighton with the opportunity to score (although Albrighton should also have been ruled offside when the ball was played into the box).

The full backs were also poor, with Billy Jones replaced by Adam Matthews shortly after the break and Patrick van Aanholt also struggling. However, Leicester targeted these areas. Take the below heat map, tweeted by @STATS_Football; Claudio Ranieri’s side had a clear game plan going forward – bypassing the midfield trio by playing in wide areas, as the full backs also received very little help from either the wingers in front of them or the central midfielders providing cover by adjusting to this threat.

Van Aanholt has never been the best defensive left back either, to the point that I often wonder whether he would be better utilised as a winger, so struggling at Leicester is just another area that shouldn’t have been surprising. The poor performance of the centre backs also didn’t help, and the same can be said about the lack of leadership at the back. John O’Shea has come out of this game looking very important to the club, as Congerton really needs to identify his long term replacement as soon as possible.

Advocaat started the game with a 4-3-3, with Jack Rodwell, Sebastian Larsson and Lee Cattermole in the central midfield until Cattermole was withdrawn early, partly because Advocaat believed that he had been booked but also to change the shape to a 4-4-2. With the defence a disorganised mess, protection from the midfield could have been useful – either in possession or when Leicester had the ball. Rodwell, Larsson and Cattermole struggling with defensive duties is something that is unusual, yet this was partly due to Leicester’s strategy of playing around them; however Sunderland’s midfield in possession has been a problem for a long time.

Sunderland really lack players who can control this area, and they have no creative edge either. Rodwell, Larsson and Cattermole are not the types of players who can dictate play – it’s why Gus Poyet’s system was doomed to failure. Against bigger teams, their hardworking nature helps the club – harassing their opponents when they are on the ball; however in a game like this, when keeping possession would have been useful to allow the defence to recover and stabilise, they needed something different in there, as the three players are all very similar in their preferred roles. Sunderland have been searching for a creative addition, and this is required, but they also need players who are comfortable in possession. Adding a regista could really help here (such as a Luca Cigarini type), as a defensive midfield playmaker who can pull the strings in midfield alongside the hardworking types that Sunderland already have in the middle as well as the pace on the wings does seem to fit the system that is preferred by Advocaat.

All in all, the result and performance was a disappointment, yet none of issues on show in this game were really that surprising – it’s just unfortunate that these issues all came to a head at once. It highlighted how much work is required to improve the side, as Congerton and Advocaat have really made minimal changes to a team that both attempted the fewest and conceded the most shots in the Premier League last season, with Costel Pantilimon helping to keep the club up. The positive is that his performance came when there is time for the management team to make new additions in the transfer market, which could prove to be the difference between Premier League or Championship football in 2016/17.

Follow @JimmyCoverdale