The chants from Sunderland’s away following of ‘we want a striker’ feel like they could be a real sliding doors moment in the season with the message loud and clear.
Sunderland’s striker issues are nothing new when it comes to the feeling on Wearside – but it was in East Anglia where things really came to the fore. The Black Cats left Portman Road still with only one goal from an out-and-out striker this season after two of them, in Nazariy Rusyn and Mason Burstow, featured for just 16 minutes combined in the 2-1 defeat against Ipswich Town.
That’s because head coach Michael Beale again preferred to start a game without a recognised forward, with Jobe Bellingham and Alex Pritchard tasked with rotating in the No.9 role.
There has been patience and there has been plenty of leeway, but supporters’ frustrations finally appeared to pour out after Conor Chaplin had headed Ipswich into the lead to complete another comeback for Kieran McKenna’s side after Kayden Jackson had earlier cancelled out Jack Clarke’s 13th goal of the campaign, adding further justification to the speculation he continues to receive from Premier League clubs this month.
‘We want a striker’ came the cry from a sold-out away following. Beale had earlier turned to his bench and brought on summer signing Adil Aouchiche – another advanced midfielder with plenty of flair and guile but another, so far at least, without that real ruthless edge in front of goal, typified when the Frenchman missed a golden opportunity prior to Chaplin’s eventual winner when dragging wide of Vaclav Hladky’s post from 12-yards.
Burstow and Rusyn were introduced late in the day with neither able to fashion a chance in the closing stages as what might have been an excellent response to their derby defeat to Newcastle United turned into another deeply frustrating afternoon for Sunderland.
“We did play with a striker, we played with Jobe there,” Beale contested when asked about the decision to leave Rusyn on the bench after back-to-back starts. “He can play there, and he’s played there in games that we’ve won.
“We’ve got three young strikers who are adjusting to the league, I think it’s fair to say, and we’ve another guy that’s done well. But I just felt the connection of the team was better with Pritch playing off of Jobe.
“It’s a situation I’ve inherited and it’s something I’m working away with. Since I’ve come in, Naz has had more moments on the pitch, but you reward off the back of training and I thought Abdoullah had a good week and he deserved to play and he was influential in the first goal.
“It’s a situation that I share some of the frustration with the fans, for sure, the team do as well because they’re looking for something up front that will help us. What I would say, if we find it, we’re in a good position in the league and we can kick on from there.”
There is, you could argue, some justification in that sense to Beale’s selection given Pritchard’s influence in recent weeks and his rotation with Jobe in the win over Preston North End, coupled with Abdoullah Ba’s cameo in Sunderland’s Wear-Tyne derby defeat. And yet there was a clear sense of misfortune for Rusyn after the Ukrainian finally broke Sunderland’s striker duck last time out in the league against Preston.
Sunderland have waited so long for a striker to score that replacing him for the next league fixture drew a perplexed response. The question from here will be how Beale maintains a level of confidence from Rusyn and when he will look to integrate him back into the starting line-up.
Against Preston, with Rusyn leading the line, Sunderland appeared to strike a much more pleasing balance throughout their team. Here, Beale looked to replicate what had worked away from home against Hull City – and it did for 45 minutes.
Sunderland were more than competitive against Ipswich and fashioned two excellent openings prior to taking the lead; one for Jobe and one for Clarke. Jobe arrived on the edge of the area to meet an Aji Alese cutback to bring a good save from Hladky before he then linked with Pritchard to find Clarke to test the Czech once more.
Jobe did offer Sunderland a different dynamic on occasion when drifting in behind Ipswich’s centre-backs to offer a more direct outlet – this particular run forcing the aforementioned opportunity for Clarke. And it was Jobe’s pressing in the second half which created the opening for Aouchiche with the scores at 1-1.
But they weren't as advanced up the field in their passing lanes as they were against Preston – or as they were at Hull, for that matter. In the New Year’s Day success over Preston, Jobe’s main two outlets, operating more as an advanced midfielder, were with Clarke, who he enjoyed nine exchanges with, and Pritchard (7). Here, his main two passing exchanges were with Alese (8) and Trai Hume (7), which suggest he wasn't linking through the attacking thirds as much, despite leading the line.
Pritchard, who was operating almost in tandem with Jobe, exchanged with Dan Neil (17) and Clarke (8) which represents a little more of an attacking nature – Sunderland’s most fruitful outlet was between Alese and Clarke who exchanged 21 times. Pritchard was involved in 60 total actions to Jobe’s 46, but almost double the amount of his successful actions came in Ipswich’s half.
Against Preston, Pritchard, tucking in from the right, enjoyed the highest passing exchange with Hume (21), whilst linking with Jobe on seven occasions as he drifted infield. Against Ipswich, with Ba on the right, Pritchard linked with Jobe on just five occasions and only four times with Ba. Meanwhile Ba and Jobe did not link with one another.
It hints at Sunderland’s attack being a little bit stymied, something which is further evident by the decrease in attacking output since Beale’s arrival. Having recorded less than one xG in just three games this season (against Watford, Leicester City and with 10-men against Middlesbrough), Sunderland have now gone four straight games in all competitions at less than one. They are creating less opportunities on goal having produced less than 10 attempts in three straight games, with the 10 attempts against Rotherham United matching those against Millwall and Watford as the next on the list.
The goals Sunderland have scored, you could argue, have been sourced from moments of individual brilliance for the most part; Clarke’s solo effort at Hull and Pritchard’s fine strike against Preston accompanied by a deflected Clarke strike at Rotherham and Rusyn’s first for the club against Preston after an excellent run and assist by Clarke, and the winger’s ferocious effort here against Ipswich. Sunderland aren’t necessarily carving teams open with clear-cut opportunities - albeit they did have some big moments at Portman Road when capitalising on defensive errors.
On the flip side, Sunderland’s relative downturn in an attacking sense may have led to a slightly improved defensive record based upon clean sheets alone, with two in five league games under Beale after just two in the 12 prior to his arrival. But for some slight misfortune with Jackson’s opener and what Beale described as 'naïve' defending for Chaplin’s winner, they may had added to it.
“In terms of the No.9 position we went with Jobe and Pritch because they had a very specific job and for the most part of the game we should be coming away saying we did the job fine, but it’s an ongoing thing. It’s something we’re trying to add to,” said Beale.
“We have got four number nines in the building with a lack of experience in this league, both in age and number of games, so we’re working hard with them in the background. In the meantime we’ve got to make the right decisions for the team.
“We’re not ruthless enough in the final third but if you can’t win it, don’t lose the game and don’t lose it like that.
“It was just very naïve in a big moment in the game and it’s fine margins. You could see how much it meant to Ipswich at the end. That one moment in a set play has got to mean more to us. It’s our naivety that’s cost us the points."
But despite the growing frustrations from supporters, Sunderland remain firmly ensconced in the play-off battle, which is why Ipswich boss McKenna was keen to highlight the magnitude of this win for his side. The Tractor Boys moved back into second place and are now 18-points better off than Sunderland on their return to the Championship.
There are similarities between Ipswich and Sunderland from last season following their promotion from League One. But where Sunderland are threatening to plateau somewhat, Ipswich are looking to kick on having already made the kind of progress in the January transfer window Sunderland supporters would welcome.
“It feels like a big win and that’s nothing to do with the fact we drew three games over Christmas,” said McKenna. “That’s normal for any team, certainly for a promoted team. There’s going to be a spell where you don’t win games.
“But it does feel like a big win because it’s a period where we’ve gone from having a really settled XI for 12 months to making a lot of changes. So it feels like a big win because we’re missing players who play regularly. We’ve got other people stepping into different roles.
“We weren’t at our absolute most fluent on the ball and we’re playing against a really good, technical side with good players. But when you come out of nights like that, and you go behind in the game and you show the spirit that we did and you come out on the right side of a hard-fought game, it feels like a big victory for sure.”
Sunderland’s season is far from being derailed, but there are one or two warning signs beginning to creep in. Beale has only been in post for a month but is suffering from what has been an issue on Wearside for several transfer windows now, with Beale the latest to try and negotiate his way around the structure in place at the Stadium of Light.
The supporters’ frustration is now being vented and is another warning to Beale, and those above him, about what is needed if Sunderland are to progress to where they want to be.
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