FanPost

Timid Tactics - What's (Not) Needed For a Canny Cup Run

What exactly do I mean if I label the home sides performance against a weakened Fulham side timid? Well, I'll elaborate on that.

Prior to this encounter, Sunderland travelled to White Hart Lane to flex the muscles of the new formation in the hopes of spearheading a more obvious, entertaining and ultimately offensive approach to Premier League football with statement-of-intent signing Jermain Defoe starting against his former club. Despite us coming away from this game pointless, it wasn't without purpose. For starters, the fans were swiftly reminded that Sunderland were actually capable of surfacing from the depths of which we so often play and - personally - I got the impression that opposition teams may have actually thought we could score multiple goals on another day. In the end, 2-1 was probably a fair result, and I actually feel a tad sorry for Danny Graham for that miss in stoppage time.

Managerial tactics - as well as logic - should follow from that game that a potentially offensive lineup should be the priority for the upcoming cup tie against, what is now, a blatantly average championship side. After all, what better way to capitalise on a rewired philosophy than to put out a confident, attacking side against a team we could beat 4-1 even when we shared the same division? But no, as a Sunderland fan, I evidently made the mistake of deluding myself into picking the obvious answer; when clearly I should've anticipated that Gus would field 8 defensive outfield players, a Steven Fletcher caught in limbo between defence and impoverished attack, and the ever-accomplished Jermain Defoe anxious to run non-existent channels that were negated every time the ball rolled from Bridcutt back to Coates. I didn't see improvement or a 'new philosophy' - I saw timidity and defensive stagnation cowering behind a 5-3-2.

If I'd have known Gus would have taken this approach the night before, I'd have bet my entire savings for uni on the trademark Poyetan 0-0. Unfortunately this very same approach in the top flight will evidently result in goals being leaked and a fixture list reading like a binary code - with points not often in our favour. Although, there is also every possibility that Gus intentionally fielded a lesser team for the sake of sheer experimentation for these early rounds of the cup (which the only real way I can justify bringing on Buckley over Giacch or Ricky) but regardless this is what I hope for. A performance such as this may well spark more urgency for the replay - as much as I complain my hopes aren't going to falter any time soon.

Are you making a FanPost? Well that's fantastic, just keep it tasteful.