Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC verdict: Clear positives emerge for Tony Mowbray after valuable lesson learned

Tony Mowbray said it epitomised having such a talented but young, still inexperienced side.

For half an hour they had been completely dominant, better and more fluid even than they had been in the opening exchanges of the Swansea City draw the week previous, a start Mowbray said had been the best of the season so far. They scored one, and should have scored more. And yet fifteen minutes later, it was the home side who clearly needed the referee’s whistle and the chance to reset the most. 

In the dressing room Mowbray told his side that this was the difference between top players and the very top players, doing it not just for spells in games but for the full 90 minutes. The head coach clearly felt some slackness and some complacency had set in, inviting Birmingham City back into a game that could well already have been put to bed.

To their credit, the second half performance was strong and though the chances were numerous for both sides, it was felt as if Sunderland were the more likely to run up a significant goal tally. 

In fairness, Sunderland’s lapses owed much to their opposition. This was a game quite unlike what we have become accustomed to at the Stadium of Light in recent years, where the prevailing tactic from the opposition has been to sit deep and to break. To slow the game down, take time out of it. Unfortunately for Sunderland and spectators alike, it has proved the best way to get a result against a side who are devastating when the game breaks open and there is space for their athletic midfielders and direct wingers to thrive. 

Wayne Rooney, though, was always going to set out on the front foot. The controversial decision to replace John Eustace, whose counter attacking style had led his side to the brink of the play-offs in the opening weeks of the season, was based on implementing a ‘no fear’ approach for the long run.

Rooney is tasked with turning his side into a high-pressing outfit, and there were spells when it looked as if Sunderland were caught out by the intensity. It made for one of the best games of the season so far, and Rooney’s side were most certainly one of the most enjoyable to watch. It probably also served to underline why most teams don’t do this to Sunderland. Even though Mowbray’s side were not at their best, they still created a glut of clear goal scoring chances and it’s no exaggeration to say that they could have doubled their final total of three. Birmingham certainly created enough to add to their own tally, but over the course of ninety minutes it was the hosts who had carved out the most regular openings. 

The only surprise with Jack Clarke’s late assist for Adil Aouchiche was that it had taken him so long to make a goal contribution, given the space he was left in for so much of the contest. This game may well prove to be the exception to the rule, the debate after the international break returning to how Mowbray’s side cope with overcoming stubborn opposition and their low blocks on home turf.

This was an impressive victory for Sunderland, all the same.

After Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien picked up their fifth yellow cards of the campaign at Swansea City, leaving them both suspended for this one, supporters would have taken a win in this game any which way it came. Such major disruption to a previously settled backline clearly had the capacity to be the team’s undoing, and even then there was the expectation that Dennis Cirkin would be able to return to offset the loss of such a significant amount of experience.

That went up in smoke just minutes before the kick off, Cirkin experiencing discomfort in the hamstring that had kept him sidelined for a number of weeks earlier this season. Mowbray had hoped to avoid giving Jenson Seelt and Nectar Triantis their Championship debuts, and yet now he had no choice.

The change probably served to break the game open even further. It emboldened Birmingham to press and apply pressure, while Mowbray felt the best thing to do was attack and keep the ball far away from goal wherever possible. Though there were moments when the intensity and pace of the game almost caught Sunderland’s new partnership out, in the end they were able to come through and that is a huge boost to Mowbray - both will be far better placed the next time he needs them.

Mowbray took heart, too, from the sense that his attacking options are growing considerably. Abdoullah Ba, Adil Aouchiche and Eliezer Mayenda made strong contributions from the bench; Bradley Dack and Alex Pritchard not called for in the end.

And though the wait for a goal from a striker goes on, this was comfortably Nazariy Rusyn’s most accomplished performance and only the width of the post prevented him from getting off the mark. Mason Burstow was brought on in a wider role, and looked liberated by the extra space, going close to a goal himself in stoppage time.

This block of fixtures started with two defeats but Sunderland have steadied the ship and head into the international break essentially where they need to be, very firmly in the play-off mix and with the side clearly developing positively.

There are grounds for real optimism, even if those opponents who lie in wait might not be quite as obliging.