Sunderland were beaten 1-0 by Bristol City on Saturday after Tommy Conway’s early penalty
After a dismal fifteen minutes of play, Mike Dodds chastised his Sunderland players for their lacklustre performance at Bristol City.
After Anthony Patterson made a mistake in possession, Tommy Conway scored an early penalty, but there were plenty more that could have caught the Black Cats off guard. Even though Dodds was disappointed that his team was unable to score, he was more disappointed in their early mistakes on the other end. His team dominated the second half without managing to equalise.
It was unacceptable, the acting head coach informed his players both during and after the game.
“I’m really frustrated, more so with the fifteen-minute spell in the first half where I just felt it was moments of complete and utter madness,” he stated.
“I just feel like we had relative control over the game if we had managed that spell better. We’ve given Bristol City an opportunity to take the lead and then win the game.” That first half is when I get angry and frustrated. At halftime, I told the players that all that needed to be changed was their mindset; no tactical adjustments or real surprises. That irritates me because I felt like we dominated the second half.
“I don’t know why, but the players wouldn’t have been on the team if I had observed any different behaviour from them during the first half of preparation. We lost points because of that little spell, which really aggravates me.
“The truth is that we had three or four instances where we gave it away in a bad part of the pitch and where the result could have been the same, so it’s not just about one player. I can’t justify it because it was our third game of the week, but the opposition had the same opportunity.”
In the second half, Sunderland dominated possession and made several strong saves from Bristol City custodian Max O’Leary; however, his most significant contributions came at the conclusion of set plays. Dodds defended his choice to start Adil Aouchiche and Bradley Dack instead of bringing on a striker until Eliezer Mayenda came off the bench in the 86th minute.
Dodds stated that, in contrast to many of Sunderland’s road games this season where they have dominated possession, he thought this one featured more opportunities created.
“On Tuesday evening Jobe lands on one on the box and scores, sometimes it’s a bit of a toss of a coin,” he stated.
It works for you sometimes and doesn’t for you other times. I would be more worried if we failed to create opportunities, as we have in the past when playing teams in a [low block]. We had some good opportunities in the second half, I believe. To be honest, I can tolerate that aspect of the game; it’s the first half that I find intolerable. That is simply not acceptable.
“I thought we were totally in control and were creating opportunities, even though we brought Eliezer on when we changed the shape. We didn’t need to alter the shape, in my opinion. I didn’t think I needed to alter the shape because I thought we were doubling up and closing the gap on both sides of the pitch. Eliezer was the person I turned to when I felt like I needed another body higher up the pitch, especially when you’re trading attacks at the end.
Although I thought Pritchrd was great, I felt he was getting tired, so I wanted to add some new players to the team. Dacky is a fantastic passer of the ball and does a great job of distributing it. I believed that if I played him in a slightly deeper role, the ball would be more effectively placed in the wide areas. Just like anything else, decisions are made on Tuesday night, praised, and then questioned the following Saturday.That is how the business operates. I maintain my position on those choices, and that first-half spell was what really irritated me.”
Dodds stated that he had been concentrating on the Bristol City game and that he had no update to provide regarding the club’s search for a new head coach. Dodds is expected to play a crucial part in Michael Beale’s coaching staff, which is anticipated to be announced early next week.
Leave a Reply