Sunderland's slow start explained, whether fans should be concerned assessed and what must happen next

No time for panic, and yet no doubt that this wasn’t exactly how the season was supposed to start, either.

Two competitive games and two defeats, preceded by a woeful 5-2 defeat to National League opposition. Even if we account for the fact that some of the social media fury will relent as the sting of defeat subsides a little over the next 48 hours, there has without doubt been a little puncture in that pre-season optimism.

The key question, then, is whether this represents simply a false start of something altogether more concerning. The answer, as ever, probably lies somewhere in the middle.

Though he had sat on the advertising hoardings looking deeply unimpressed with the fare in front of him, occasionally rising only to put head in hands in trademark fashion, by the time Tony Mowbray picked through the bones of the Carabao Cup exit he was cutting an altogether more relaxed figure. Philosophical about the result, why it happened and why it most certainly didn't mean grave danger ahead.

Take a look at the bigger picture and things still look pretty good, was the crux of his verdict. Sunderland have in both games shown that they have the capability to dominate games, to take control of possession and territory and work it into the areas where your Patrick Roberts and your Jack Clarkes can do damage. They have real technical talent, that for large swathes of a game even a side of Ipswich Town’s calibre struggled to contain. That was a thrilling contest that could really have gone either way and there's no reason to think that won't be the norm, or that Mowbray's side won't ultimately come out on top in plenty if they replicate much of their performance level.

History also strongly suggests that it would be foolish to see a team’s Carabao Cup fortunes as indicative of their health more broadly. Sunderland limped out in the first round at Sheffield Wednesday last season, and yet the campaign at large was as enjoyable as many fans have experienced. In the previous year they romped to the quarter finals and were rewarded with a trip to Arsenal, but the fun of that cup run was offset by some heavy defeats on the road that came perilously close to derailing the league campaign.

Laboured cup performances in this early stage of the season are commonplace up and down the pyramid - teams are heavily rotated and as such, often feature academy players stepping up and summer arrivals stepping in. There tends to be little familiarity with the team structure and as a result, what can look like disinterest or a lack of application is often just straightforward disjointedness and a lack of conviction.

That Sunderland have some real issues is pretty clear nonetheless. Part of the reason that there was real optimism over the summer months was that an injury list so extensive in the second half of last season couldn’t possibly be as bad this time around. Clearing that backlog is still a work in progress, though. Elliot Embleton had hoped to be fit for the start of the campaign but is still a week or two off. Aji Alese and Ross Stewart are unlikely to be seen until the end of next month at the earliest. Corry Evans could feasibly be absent until the new year. 

This is particularly relevant because the defeats at Hartlepool United and Crewe Alexandra have shown that right now, the strength in depth isn’t quite there. Jay Matete’s injury, and it is a fairly bad one, forced Mowbray to share the 90 minutes between Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah because he hasn’t really got another option at the base of midfield. Though clearly prodigiously talented and potentially with very bright futures in the game, the alternatives at this stage to Roberts and Clarke are struggling for consistency. The impact of the more established players coming into the game during the second half at Crewe showed that right now, the gap between the two XIs is too big. Very obviously, what both are lacking is presence in the opposition penalty box. There is time yet in the window but the goals, quality and presence of Stewart and Amad were never going to be easily replaced. It is proving, as expected, a bumpy transition period.

That the depth in the striking department is yet to be fully addressed, despite being an obvious issue across a number of transfer windows now, is probably the key reason why the mood on Wearside is falling short of ebullient. There are others, though. 

There has been real frustration for supporters with some key issues off the field over the summer, with the launch of the new kits facing numerous problems with supply. Though the transition ultimately proved largely successful come opening day, the switch to digital ticketing was a source of huge angst for many of the summer months. The club’s ownership group inherited a threadbare operation that has been stripped back significantly in the League One era, but almost three years on the sense remains that the key connection points between club and fans are nowhere near as strong as it should be. The imminent arrival of the MLS’ Chief Marketing Officer David Bruce is designed to try and help address this, and he will have a packed in tray when he settles at his desk.

Transfer uncertainty has not helped, either. Jack Clarke has been the subject of multiple bids from Burnley and though the player himself has conducted himself superbly through the speculation, a lingering unease was not helped by his agent suggesting some unhappiness with contract talks on the day of the Ipswich game. Here Sunderland could have done little more: they set a clear valuation that hasn't come close to being met and so that really is that.

There has also been persistent talk of potential exits for senior trio Danny Batth, Alex Pritchard and Lynden Gooch. That has felt uncomfortable for many who hold those players in such high esteem given their professionalism and quality in the club’s rise from the doldrums over the last two campaigns. Sunderland's hierarchy would counter that is exactly that respect which underpins their potential willingness to let them find longer contracts and more game time elsewhere they can, but it hasn't helped create a settled feel at the start of the new season.

Mowbray says he has seen enough in both of these defeats to suggest that Sunderland are going to be fine and that is pretty clearly the case. Bradley Dack made a strong debut on Tuesday night, showing guile and experience and immediately lifting the level of those around him.

Chris Rigg became the club’s youngest-ever goalscorer and that he is here to do that, rather than already finding himself at a big Premier League club, is testament to the fact that the excellent work of the academy is finally being properly utilised by a strategic and patient approach from the footballing hierarchy. 

Sunderland’s core is stronger than it has been for a long time, and the results of that will be seen at some stage in the campaign. And when they are, at its foundation will be an exciting and dynamic style of play. As Mowbray said himself on Tuesday night, drop Dack and Stewart into this team and already it is looking a formidable one for Championship opponents.

What we have across the opening few days of the campaign is that another season of significant success is not inevitable, though. Mowbray held an impromptu transfer summit in the aftermath of the Crewe defeat and his message in it was a clear one: We know we need the right striker, but the time to act is now. Let’s get one in the building and get to work.

It’s still the single most obvious way this promising, exciting team becomes something altogether more fearsome. 

Too much good work has been done to be wasted with a disappointing end to the window. It's a fine time to be following Sunderland and in the bigger picture, a Carabao Cup defeat will very quickly become little more than a footnote. That it showed some hard work still to be done is equally true.