Irish stars shine in Royzone
I think the Portsmouth game on Sunday was the best Sunderland have played all season, especially in the first half.
Like many people I picked out Kieran Richardson and Kenwyne Jones as the two outstanding players of the game but I would also like to give a mention to Daryl Murphy and Anthony Stokes.
They are two players who are still really trying to win the fans over but I thought you could make a case for saying that both had their best games for Sunderland in the Premier League.
Jones and Richardson got most of the plaudits but I thought Stokes and Murphy were unsung heroes and it was good to seem them playing so well because I thought they were very important in making the system work.
We played what was essentially a 4-5-1 system with the wide two – Irishmen Stokes and Murphy – able to push on whenever we were in possession.
The middle three did very well with Dwight Yorke sitting in front of the defence and Liam Miller and Kieran Richardson looking to be very positive.
But you would expect to shine if you're one of three in midfield – Stokes and Murphy had a heavier responsibility to make it work by pushing on to support Jones whenever they could and putting in the legwork.
And they did exactly that.
I was really pleased for them because while they're still a way away from winning the fans over, that performance will have done their reputations no harm at all.
As I say, Kieran and Kenwyne really caught the eye but it's right that others get mentioned too because the win was down to a real team performance and it's always encouraging when you're winning games because of the collective quality of the team rather than just an odd moment of skill or ability from one player.
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Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
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Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
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