Pressure on Michael Beale after Sunderland lose to Hull

Supporters vented their frustration towards the club’s head coach after Fabio Carvalho’s deflected strike separated the two sides 19 minutes from time. Sunderland failed to clear their lines from a corner before the ball came back in from the right for an unmarked Carvalho to hook goalwards via a deflection to condemn Beale to a third straight defeat in all competitions.

It’s a result which leaves Sunderland outside of the play-off places ahead of what feels like a significant end to the month of January with regards to the club’s potential play-off push.

We Are Sunderland run through some of the key talking points from Wearside.

‘Slightly different’ Sunderland – analysing Michael Beale’s selection

Beale stuck true to the suggestion his side would approach this game differently, at least in terms of personnel and in shape, but with little end result. Nazariy Rusyn was recalled after being left out of the starting XI at Portman Road last weekend with Jenson Seelt returning in defence in place of the injured Aji Alese – a problem Sunderland may have for a number of weeks yet. Seelt filled in at right-back with Trai Hume covering the missing Alese, with Rusyn a lone striker in front of a midfield four.

Beale opted to push Dan Neil further up the field alongside Jack Clarke, Alex Pritchard and Jobe Bellingham – the latter two flexible in their positioning as we often saw them rotate in and out of central midfield and the wide right positions.

It was perhaps a surprise to see Abdoullah Ba dropped to the bench after his involvement against Ipswich Town a week ago. Ba has come under scrutiny from elements of the home support of late but after Beale praised the Frenchman’s application in training last week, he was rewarded with a spot in the starting XI at Ipswich where, to his credit, he produced one of his better performances of recent weeks, including an assist for Clarke’s opener.

Much like Rusyn however – who found himself out of the team in Suffolk despite scoring in his last league outing against Preston North End, Ba too was back out of the side. Neither Tony Mowbray, Mike Dodds in the interim, or now Beale as head coach have been able to truly settle on their front four and that seems like it will be something that will continue on a game-to-game basis, despite previous form, which does not lend itself to much continuity.  

Michael Beale’s identity – are we seeing it?

Beale has been in situ for a month at the Stadium of Light and while it remains a very early stage to judge, this was already a seventh game in charge. But are we seeing any of Beale’s imprint on Sunderland?

“I think that’s going to take a little bit of time to be honest,” said Beale. “You’ll see changes in the structure over time but, at the moment, we’re trying to keep things very much the same in terms of a defensive shape and organisation. But over time it will evolve, for certain.”

The problem Beale already seems to find, much like his predecessor, is that Sunderland have hit a roadblock in the attacking third outside of Clarke’s involvement. Yet where earlier in the season Sunderland could perhaps count themselves unfortunate in games in relation to their recorded xG and attempts at goal, those stats are now dwindling as well which remain far from conducive to turning the tide.

Beale’s Sunderland have been quite structured and organised, particularly away from home, but the attacking pace and fluidity remains inconsistent and, in this instance, non-existent. Rusyn, here, made a number of what you would consider more ‘forward’ runs into the channels, but was never really picked out. Sunderland have become acclimatised to playing without a recognised forward for so long since their return to the Championship that when one does feature there remains a lack of synergy in the final third.

Beale’s switch to a 4-1-4-1 never manufactured the kind of impact he would have hoped despite the idea being to add an additional player, in Neil, into the final third. It was a game where both teams will have felt comfortable with very little in the way of anything creative and penetrative.

Sunderland’s response to falling a goal behind was erratic, at best, with little conviction as Hull replicated what Sunderland did themselves on Boxing Day when scoring a late winner. Beale suggested his side deserved more from the game but the overriding emotion is one of a lack of identity.

Although they remain deeply involved in the play-off conversation as we head into the final months of the season, you can’t escape the feeling of Sunderland plateauing with Beale showing little so far to suggest that may change.

Sunderland fail to capitalise on under-strength Hull

The significance of Sunderland’s back-to-back home games was not downplayed by Beale. While the Sunderland head coach would not go as far as to say this meeting with Hull and next weekend’s with Stoke City were ‘must win’ in the public domain, you get the feeling that was the message inside the Academy of Light.

“If I say that I could create a mini crisis,” said Beale. “Every game at this football club, the fans say is a must win, so I support that and the players do as well. Let’s just play the 90 minutes that are in front of us.”

But having lost away to Ipswich in the manner they did last weekend, coupled with the continued and lasting impact of their derby day defeat against Newcastle United in the third round of the FA Cup, and the extra baggage attached to that, it felt like this was an important evening for Beale.

And they couldn’t really have picked a better time to face Liam Rosenior’s side who were battered by injuries and absentees. This was not the same Hull team Beale and Sunderland came up against last month, both literally and figuratively.

Only six of those who started for Hull in the reverse fixture little over three weeks ago started at the Stadium of Light, with key players such as Jean Michael Seri, Liam Delap and Aaron Connolly all missing. Rosenior handed just a third start, and a first away in the Championship, to 22-year-old former Gateshead defender Matt Jacob at left-back, whilst Liverpool loanee Carvalho started in tandem with Ozan Tufan in a 4-4-2 system.

And yet despite so many changes, Sunderland weren’t really able to capitalise on any potential lack of cohesion. Beale set his side up in a 4-1-4-1 style, with Neil showing a couple of early positive runs inside of Clarke on the wing, and Pritchard and Jobe rotating on the right and in the centre of midfield.

It initially felt as though Jacob would be the target with that movement from Pritchard and Jobe, but outside of the opening few minutes Sunderland never really got in behind on that side of the field until the final minute of the half following a clever exchange between Pritchard and Seelt – the latter scuffing his finish when meeting the return.

Having negotiated the early period where Sunderland represented only a small element of the forward-thinking approach Beale had hinted at in the build-up, Hull were able to find some comfort in the game with their possession in defence as they limited Sunderland to just one shot on target in the opening 45 minutes.

It took until the hour mark for Beale to see an injection of enthusiasm from his team after Hume brought a decent save from Ryan Allsop from distance. From there, Sunderland stepped up their intensity briefly and were able to involve Clarke a little more, but to no avail before Hull broke the deadlock.

Whilst Hull, themselves, were limited – Rosenior’s side registering just two attempts at goal, they were able to grind out a result with goalkeeper Allsop largely untroubled throughout which kind of told the story again for Sunderland.

Is Sunderland's season unravelling?

There’s no escaping the fact that Sunderland supporters feel disconnected from their club given the events of the last month, and Beale is now at the front and centre of that.

After Carvalho’s deflected strike found a way through the Sunderland defence to give Hull the lead, Beale turned to his bench to replace Rusyn with Luis Hemir which was met by a chorus of boos from the home supporters followed by chants of ‘you’re getting sacked in the morning.’

The reception to Beale’s appointment has been lukewarm at best, but after just a month in charge it feels like he faces a huge uphill task to try and win over a fanbase who can feel their season slipping away from them. From the off at the Stadium of Light, the atmosphere mirrored that of the performance in being flat. The enthusiasm surrounding the club 12 months ago, and even at the beginning of this season, has evaporated at a rapid speed – particularly since Mowbray’s sacking in December.

Beale has won just two of seven games in charge, with the club winning four of 13 since November’s international break across all competitions. Representatives of a number of Sunderland’s supporter groups met with several of the club’s hierarchy ahead of this meeting with Hull to vent their frustrations at matters off the field, but those frustrations are now very much turning on the field as well.

There remains a long way to go in the season and, at worst by the end of this weekend Sunderland will find themselves only three points adrift of the top six. Yet Sunderland’s season feels as though it is unravelling drastically.