Sunderland battled bravely to secure a 1-0 win over Liverpool at the Stadium of Light and exacerbate the anxiety of Liverpool fans who are painfully realizing that their team will not win the Premier League this season.
Darren Bent controversially scored for the Black Cats in the first half when his shot deflected in off a balloon which had been tossed onto the pitch by a fan.
The Sunderland striker continued to pressure the lacklusterly slow three-man Liverpool backline, breaking through twice. Reds goalkeeper Pepe Reina saved well from one effort and another effort deflected off the post and wide.
Liverpool took greater control of the game in the final 30 minutes and forced some decent saves from Black Cats goalkeeper Craig Gordon, but the combined technical expertise and dogged determination that one expects from a title challenger was sorely lacking in the Reds' performance.
When we analyze the displays of the two teams, it is impossible to come to a conclusion other than that Steve Bruce better prepared his players for the game than Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez. Bruce had his team playing as a fluid unit and working extremely hard to pressure Liverpool in their own end and keep the quite crap Liverpool back line anxiously on the ball as often as possible. Sunderland players showed themselves to comprise a team unit in every sense of the term and manager Bruce scored some major points with the chairmen of the big clubs and keen football viewers.
Rafa Benitez on the other hand, selected a bizarre 3-6-2 formation that incorporated a strangely weak midfield that was never able to make a mark on the game. Only with the introduction of the tough tackling Javier Mascerano with 30 minutes left did Liverpool begin to show that they have the desire to compete, but Sunderland had enough in the tank to hang on to victory.
Sunderland began the game with passion and hard running. The midfield and attackers did all they possibly could to keep the ball firmly in the Liverpool half, never granting a Liverpool defender or midfielder longer than a few seconds on the ball. The tough tackling midfield pairing of Cattermole and Cana pressured and tackled; the strikers, Bent and Jones, pressured and tackled; and the wingers, Reid and Malbranque, pressured and tackled. All players on the team, regardless of their position, committed in unison to the gameplan of manager Steve Bruce and sacrificed for Sunderland.
Whenever the ball came into the Sunderland end, a big boot would put it firmly back in the proximity of Liverpool's three man back line and the fast pressuring Sunderland midfield and attack. Liverpool struggled with the fast pace of the Sunderland pressure and could not get comfortable on the ball or manage an attack. Sunderland were ugly, but what they did certainly worked.
It was clear from the beginning that Bruce wagered on running all out in the first half, taking a first half lead and hoping that his players could hold on in the final 30 minutes when they would undoubtedly tire. Pressure they did, battling for the ball at every opportunity and surprising the Liverpool defense. When on the ball, Sunderland, playing 4-4-2, would play it long to their strikers, who came deep to take the ball to the wings and cut inside.
Sunderland took the lead and only looked like adding to that lead in the first 60 minutes of the game. Bent, his legs packed with energizer batteries, was superb. He was seeminly never beyond 5 metres of the last Liverpool defender, a tactic that kept Liverpool's defense scared given Sunderland's long ball game and Bent's obvious speed advantage over any Liverpool defender. Sunderland managed three breakaways, two for Bent, and one set up by Bent to Malbranque, but luckly Liverpool survived on all three occassions.
What impressed me most about Sunderland was the palpable unison of the players toward the cause of the manager and team. No player is bigger than Bruce's team. Every player knows his role perfectly and will sacrifice for the greater good of the team. These players are not afraid of any opponent. They will keep all opposing defenders under constant pressure and use the speed and strength of their strikers, Bent and Jones, to cause havoc with long balls.
In an age of complex football tactics, some may say that Bruce has managed success by keeping things simple. He plays 4-4-2. His defense has to get the ball to the wings and strikers. His central midfielders are defensive. His strikers are big and fast. Everyone is responsible to pressure and keep opponents firmly on their back foot.
What analysts sometimes forget is that the greatest attribute of a manager is getting players to work for him and commit to the cause of the team. Committed players will work hard for their manager and meet his demands. Bruce is in his first few months at Sunderland. His first job was to get a new group of players to commit to his tactical system. Only once players commit can more complex tactical systems be developed. In short, the great manager may need to first bring success through a simple tactical system and he must know that tactical system inside out. Bruce knows his gameplan inside out and can break down the precise role of every player in that tactical system. He brought in players - Turner, Cana, Cattermole, Bent - who all fit perfectly into that system. Indeed viewers of Sunderland will recognize that the players, though they are not the most technically gifted in the EPL, all know their precise role and are determined to meet that role with success. Rather than show himself to be a simple manager, Bruce is showing himself to a keen reader of the game of football and a potentially great manager.
Bruce should be praised. He is doing a remarkable job.
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The Daily Mail reports that Hull have been blessed with debts of £27m and a wage bill of £40m.
