Sunderland A.F.C. 2-2 WBA

match text commentary



before this match had ever kicked-off, any albion supporter would probably have (even if somewhat grudgingly) taken the single-point away to a sunderland team that bought big over the summer, and have made no secret of their ambition to consolidate their place as a top-ten side in the premier league. however, after having seen the baggies go 0-2 up in the first 5 minutes - on goals by much-maligned winger, james morrison, and in-form striker, shane long - albion supporters would feel like this was two points dropped.

while overall team performance in the first-half was much better than either the away win at norwich or the 3-goal loss at swansea, it was not what we have come to expect from the baggies over the last few years under the likes of tony mowbray and roberto di matteo.

roy hodgson has stuck with the tactical gambit of controlling the tempo of the match through solid defending and incisive counter-attacking - especially away from home. while it may be a bit one-dimensional and certainly doesn't seem to make adequate use of the considerable talent that the baggies have in midfield, it was most effective in the win at norwich city. west brom allowed their hosts a significant advantage in possession but allowed no real scoring opportunities, and kept an all too rare clean-sheet. it was classically economical football played from the back, creating the better chances coming forward and west brom should have won by 2 or 3.

the first mistake against sunderland was not to push on more aggressively and find the third goal. with their opponents on the ropes and the home crowd having turned on them, a 3-goal deficit would have left the black cats too much of mountain to climb and no hope of coming back.

the sunderland home support have recently grown frustrated - and vocally demonstrative about it - with gaffer, steve bruce, and the general perception of the club's start to the season as being unacceptably mediocre. in fact, with the wearsiders having come back from a 2-goal deficit to equalize, they were quite amazingly booed off the park at half-time. the big money buying has brought with it some big expectations and a palpable, hostile impatience now permeates the atmosphere at the stadium of light.





for me, the difference in this match was sunderland midfielder, stephane sessegnon. the benin international had served notice in the 13th minute when a long ball into the albion penalty area ended with a low, hard shot running just wide of ben foster's right-hand post. the baggies got another scare 10 minutes later when a similar effort was turned in for an apparent goal by ex-birmingham city midfielder, sebastian larsson. having spotted his team-mate's run, larsson got in behind his marker and redirected another low, hard drive by sessegnon into the albion goal. however, it was called back as larsson had made his run a step too early and was correctly ruled to be offside.

the black cats kept coming and finally made the breakthrough when sessegnon's next ball in at goal - and again running at the albion left flank - was back-heeled by larsson to the on-rushing ex-arsenal striker, nicklas bendtner. his shot took a deflection and left the already committed foster flailing and going the wrong way with no chance whatsoever of making a stop.

the equalizer came only minutes later through a nicklas bendtner cross which found ahmed elmohamady in front of goal. the egyptian had gotten in behind his marker and buried a hard, pacey header to make it 2-2.

roy hodgson should probably have put youssouf mulumbu on sessegnon, man-marked him out of the game and worked to deny him possession much higher up the pitch. the sunderland midfielder was brilliant whenever given a chance to run with the ball between the half-way line and baggies' penalty area.

while the baggies were probably the slightly better team over the first 45 minutes, they were decidedly second best after the break. in fact, nothing about the second-half was as good as the first, and both teams exhibited the desperate need not to lose more than either showed the desire to push on for the win. nonetheless, it was the black cats who had the better of the chances when, once again, sessegnon ran aggressively at the west brom back line before slipping a ball out to elmohamady on the right. the egyptian had a clear look at goal and a decent angle from which to shoot. but ben foster stood up, made himself big and positioned himself well to make a decisive save and maintain the score-line.

while the stadium of light crowd has, in no uncertain terms, made their disappointment clear, baggies fans are not too terribly happy about this year's campaign thus far either. perhaps it was the last season's 10th and 11th place finishes, respectively, creating yet more false dawns in the wasteland of dashed dreams and despair that is called the barclay's premier league?





there's no doubt that the gaffer has got the baggies defending much better as a team, and it has only been individual errors that have worked against them. however, the passing play through the midfield, as well as the the odemwingie/long strike partnership, hasn't really gelled yet. in truth, the two strikers together haven't looked anywhere near as dangerous as when long was partnered with somen tchoyi in the first two matches.

but it is odemwingie who hasn't clicked yet. while there have been moments when a ball coming over the top and the nigerian's pace against isolated defenders has looked dangerous, his decision making has been poor and is looking so hard to score that he is not seeing the play around him. in fact, with only a single pass completed between odemwingie and long in this match, a true "partnership" couldn't really be said to exist, as such.

so much has been said and written by TV and radio pundits, as well as posts in online fan forums, about "formation". there is endless opinion and lament concerning the abandonment of the successful 4-5-1 formation that roberto di matteo was forced to use when he had run out of fit strikers at half-time in an fa cup-tie with newcastle united. while they continued playing this way through the back end of last season, this year roy hodgson has reverted to a more conventional set up featuring two strikers.

what should be obvious from the nature of how the baggies have dropped points over the first seven games is that their lack of success has less to do with the formation than it does individual form. shane long got off the mark early. so far, he has been the best player on the team and has continued to improve over the first seven games. chris brunt looks to have come into form, being instrumental in the baggies' opening goal and having had a really good all-around performance against sunderland. stephen reid has grown into the right back spot and has definitely added strength to what was perhaps the side's weakest position. gareth mcauley has come into the first team and immediately proved a solid partner for jonas olsson in central defence. on the other hand, graham dorrans has created one or two exciting moments, but hasn't shown any of the charisma and creativity of which he is capable. james morrison has been wildly inconsistent, and the usually steady left-back, nicky shorey, has been responsible for several costly fundamental errors. as for the defensive midfield, youssouf mulumbu has played pretty well, paul scharner hasn't. in other words: individual form is all over the shop... never mind debating "formation"!





at this point, i would suggest that "selection" is where hodgson and his staff should be focussing their attentions. after all, it is only seven games into the schedule, and whatever the supporters feel, or what expectations have been created, after a solid mid-table finish last term, we've all got to remember that the goal is to place 17th or better in the league table on the final day of the season. period.

with so much attention having been paid to the acquisition of striker, shane long, and the retention of last year's goal-scoring leader, peter odemwingie, there has, no doubt, been pressure on the gaffer to play these two strikers together at the first opportunity. odemwingie was kept out of the side for the first two games due to a recurring ankle injury, and didn't get a start until the disastrous away loss to swansea city, having only come on briefly as a substitute late in the game against stoke city.

shane long is set to become the club's record signing through performance related contingencies in his contract, and the albion were forced to offer odemwingie substantial improvements to his existing deal with the club in order to ensure his stay at the hawthorns. however, it is only long that has impressed so far, having scored 3 goals already and his play continuing to improve; while odemwingie has struggled and despite netting the winner in west brom's solitary win, has been desperately out of form.

right now, the gaffer has to figure out how to inspire better, more assured performances from his charges and stick with his concept of making the albion a difficult side to break down with a solid spine from back to front. he also needs the goal-scorers in the team to step up and create more goal opportunities. chris brunt, graham dorrans, morrison and mulumbu need to be more adventurous in attack; and perhaps the gaffer needs to give simon cox a start alongside shane long up front.

4-5-1? 4-4-2?

forget about everything else and sort out your best footballers, mate.