The 'invaluable' test Sunderland U21s have had to face in recent weeks
Sunderland have been competing in the Premier League International Cup this season.
Sunderland U21s’ campaign in the Premier League International Cup is proving to be “invaluable” for the Black Cats’ next generation of talent, according to coach Graeme Murty.
The tournament pits the best of the Premier League 2 against a series of continental counterparts, with Sunderland having already played Athletic Bilbao, Borussia Monchengladbach, and Lyon in this year’s competition. The Black Cats will round out their group stage with a fixture against Portuguese giants Benfica in January.
And after seeing his side record a 2-0 victory over Lyon in midweek, Murty was quick to talk up the merits of facing a selection of varied, high-calibre opponents. Speaking to The Echo, he said: “It's invaluable for the players. We've experienced multiple different challenges already and we've got one to come in Benfica.
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“These teams are European giants that we're playing against and we're getting to measure our players against some of the very best in Europe, so we're really thankful for the competition. We think it's an amazing competition and we think that throughout the games we've shown the value of it.
“We did okay against Bilbao, we did okay in parts against Borussia [Monchengladbach], but we got punished heavily. They have to start to show their growth and their development and their understanding of what's required to compete at this level. I thought that for 90-odd minutes we went toe-to-toe with a massive, massive club.”
A late brace from teenage striker Trey Ogunsuyi was enough to hand Sunderland a valuable three points at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground on Tuesday night, and Murty was delighted with what he saw from his players.
He added: “I was really pleased. I thought there were elements where we were excellent. I thought there were periods in the game where we were exactly what we would like to see. We were slick with the ball, we moved the ball really quickly. We caused them lots of problems, I thought, with the ball. And we showed a better understanding of our shape without the ball. There are still times when we give the ball away cheaply, which is going to happen, but our reaction and our defending of our box in general was a lot better this evening.”