Mike Dodds' Sunderland blueprint after positive Leicester display

Ten days earlier, in Dodds’ third first game in charge of Sunderland, having replaced the departed Michael Beale until the end of the current season, he had tried and failed in manipulating Sunderland’s system into a back three for the visit of Swansea City. Dodds found his side 2-0 behind inside the opening 30 minutes and were fortunate it wasn’t more as his approach fell flat against an impressive Swansea side.

Dodds revealed he would have no issues with using the approach again, but it came as no surprise to see Sunderland start with a back four in the subsequent trip to Carrow Road to face Norwich City. Although Sunderland, again, failed to register any points, there was a little more cohesiveness and comfort to their structure.

But Dodds’ most positive impact during all three spells in charge of Sunderland undoubtedly came in the 1-0 win over Leeds United, where a defensive three proved to be the foundation for one of Sunderland’s standout performances of the season against a promotion favourite. Given how Leeds set up that night in December in a 4-2-3-1, it’s easy to understand why Dodds delved back into that playbook against a similar type of opposition in Leicester, both in terms of style of play and their set-up, also in a 4-2-3-1/ 4-1-4-1 variation.

Sunderland's set-up against Leicester City (left) and Leeds United (right) and what they came up against under Mike Dodds (Image: StatsBomb)

“The Swansea game does irritate me as a coach because I take real pride in the way that I set a team up,” Dodds explained to We Are Sunderland. “I think the lesson I learned from the Swansea game, and I don’t want to wind anyone up when I say this, but the actual tactics when I watched the game back, I didn’t dislike.

“What I disliked, and this is where I take responsibility is; we went from zero-to-100 in terms of playing one way to another way, and if you actually look at the Swansea set-up to the Leicester set-up, it was very similar, we just executed it miles better and that’s the bit where I take responsibility as a coach and what that has done, which is the bit that gives me real hope and belief, is that in a short space of time we’ve gone from Swansea to Leicester in terms of performance. That’s the bit that gives me hope and belief that once we do get one result, this is going to snowball in the other direction quite quickly.

“If you compare the two games on reflection, you see a completely different mentality. You see a completely different intensity. You see a Sunderland team, whereas the Swansea game, I think we were half-a-yard off everywhere which I think maybe made Swansea look better, without being disrespectful. I think we were the architects of our own downfall in terms of our mentality and intensity. So they were very similar set-ups, just that one was executed with far more intensity and far more aggression and focus.”

Little more than 15 minutes into the game at the Stadium of Light, however, and Dodds cut a despondent figure as he watched on while Leicester toyed with his Sunderland side.

Jamie Vardy’s 11th goal of the season in the 13th minute set alarm bells ringing, with Enzo Maresca’s side enjoying supreme joy in the opening quarter-of-an-hour, slicing through Sunderland, and Dodds’ approach at will – only an inspired performance from Anthony Patterson denying the Championship leaders a wider lead.

Sunderland and Leicester City xG map which shows how Sunderland limited Leicester in the second half (Image: StatsBomb)

Dodds admits to having already watched Tuesday’s defeat back multiple times, and having looked at it through another lens detached from the sideline, he remained upbeat about Sunderland’s tactical display against Leicester, despite their narrow defeat. And there’s no doubting they got to grips with things after an unnerving opening period.

When analysing Sunderland’s set-up in midweek, it’s easy to hold substance to Dodds’ assessment in that Leicester were initially very impressive before Sunderland, particularly in the second half, executed the game plan very well without seeing the end reward in terms of a share of the points.

Although Sunderland initially lined up with their wing-backs, Trai Hume and Leo Hjelde, pushed higher up into midfield, with three centre-backs of Jenson Seelt, Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien, it very quickly transcended into a back five to cope with Leicester’s rhythm and interchange.Sunderland's set-up against Leicester City appeared much flatter initially than against Swansea City with the wing-backs much deeper to form a back five (Image: Wyscout)

As you can see in the image above, the set-up was much flatter than against Swansea and more conservative in the early stages. The wing-backs were tighter to their defensive line making the pitch a little narrower than usual – particularly in the absence of out-and-out wingers further up the field.

This out of possession system is similar to what we saw from Beale, particularly away from home, when offering the flanks out to the opposition, with Dodds having suggested in his initial press conference when returning as interim head coach that he wouldn’t be against taking some of Beale’s ideas and adding to them.

The issue in the opening period of the game was that it fluctuated a little too often.

That set-up did transition into a box midfield at times in the first half - an approach popularised in Germany before the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City utilised it (Image: Wyscout)

The image above shows Sunderland move into a box midfield with Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah supported by Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham. In this instance they are not necessarily man-for-man, rather pressing in a zone as a collective.

Sunderland have utilised this approach before this season but in a different way by inverting Hume from full-back as an additional midfielder in games they feel as though they are the more dominant team. Here, it was the starting midfield four who fluctuated from a flat four to a box four.

The ideology of the box midfield out of possession is to cover and screen the central spaces ahead of the defence, stopping passes through the centre of defence. The two 'sitting' midfielders are tasked with tracking forward runners through the centre, but also into the wide areas, helping the full-back or wing-back to defend wide areas whereas the No.10’s contribute to high pressing either side of a single centre-forward. They look to force play either inside or towards the touchline depending on a manager or coaches tactics.

Again, however, that transitioned into man marking as well, as shown below with Neil, Ekwah and Jobe pressing individual targets.

In this example you can also see Ballard and his task of tracking Vardy, regardless of how deep the experienced striker chose to drop. Ballard’s return from suspension is likely to have been a key reason behind Dodds’ decision to revert back to this system, but this was also an example of how it was executed better than against Swansea.

Whenever Ballard was drawn out of his centre-back role by Vardy; Hume, Seelt and O’Nien shifted over accordingly to form a back four.

The problem was that Sunderland were caught between the two systems out of possession due to Leicester's quality. The man-marking was evident by Dan Ballard on Jamie Vardy in both halves of the field as the rest of Sunderland's defence shifted across to compensate when Ballard was drawn out (Image: Wyscout)

Yet again, as we see below, Sunderland weren’t averse in pressing Leicester high up the pitch in the early stages, particularly when goalkeeper Mads Hermansen was in possession. This particular example mirrors some of what we saw against Swansea where there were certain trigger players for Sunderland to press.Sunderland did try to press more aggressively at times in the first half against Leicester (Image: Wyscout)

To counteract that, however, there were also cases whereby Sunderland were alarmingly deep. The image below was another case of Leicester threatening early in the game down the right with only Luis Hemir out of shot for Sunderland.

To counteract that, Leicester's quality also forced Sunderland very deep inside their own half with as many as nine men in or around their own penalty area (Image: Wyscout)

All of these images come from within the opening 10 minutes of the game which kind of summarise how difficult Leicester were to deal with – and that is something Dodds reiterated having reviewed the game in the days since.

“I’ve actually watched the game back twice and the first 15 minutes or so I’ve just got to give Leicester credit,” he said. “I looked at it from a purely tactical perspective and there wasn’t a huge amount that I disliked, I just thought they were really good. They started the game really well and there were a couple of passes they made that were Premier League quality passes that just sliced us open and that’s the quality that you come up against [in this division].

He added: “You don’t doubt yourself but you ask; can they do this? Because we did something similar against Leeds, although it wasn’t as aggressive.

“Were there tweaks and things we could have done better? 100 per cent. But I also think sometimes you just have to give the opposition credit. There was a ball from Callum Doyle where he slides one down the side and [Kiernan] Dewsbury-Hall just runs off the back of Jenson [Seelt] and when I’ve looked at the set-up I just think the weight and quality of the pass and the timing of the run is Premier League quality. And sometimes as a coach you’ve just got to say; how do I stop that?”

And Dodds was right.

As you can see below, former Sunderland loanee Callum Doyle became an additional outlet for Maresca’s side beyond that of a dangerous front four and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall.

Sunderland attempted to combat that on the opposite flank through Hjelde but the Norwegian struggled to have a similar impact.

Mike Dodds gave Leicester credit for their first half performance suggesting it was 'Premier League quality' such as this pass from Callum Doyle (below) for Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Image: Wyscout)

The image above shows Doyle in possession in the wide left position up against Sunderland in both a box (above) and flat (below) midfield. On the second occasion, Doyle slides an excellent pass into the path of Dewsbury-Hall who times his run beyond Seelt perfectly.

The warning signs were there for Sunderland in the opening 10 minutes as Leicester found space in behind on numerous occasions; Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall wasting a good opportunity in this example (Image: Wyscout)

Dewsbury-Hall finds himself advanced in the Sunderland penalty area with an overload in the box as he is supported by both Vardy and Yunus Akgün. The 25-year-old was presented with a number of options, but with Patterson narrowing the angle to goal, the midfielder wastes a promising position with an overweighted pass. But the warnings were there for Sunderland who eventually conceded soon after from a free kick after Leicester found space in a similar area in the build-up.

At that point you feared things could get out of hand for Dodds’ side before Leicester dropped a gear.

Sunderland were able to get a slight foothold in the game in the closing stages of the first half, but it is the second half where Dodds is justified in the appraisals of his team.

Almost immediately in the second half, Sunderland made a concerted effort to be smarter in their pressing. That involved targeting centre-back Wout Faes higher up the pitch, as well as monitoring the lively Dewsbury-Hall.

Faes had the second most touches for Leicester across the 90 minutes and completed the most passes for Maresca’s side which highlights his importance in constructing their possession from the back. As you can see in the image below, Ekwah, Neil and Jobe are much more compact and controlled in their advances towards the centre-back, but pay particular attention to Seelt and Dewsbury-Hall.

Sunderland were much more structured in their pressing in the second half with a number of triggers including centre-back Wout Faes and Jenson Seelt's tracking of Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall (Image: Wyscout)

Faes turns down the option of playing a pass into Dewsbury-Hall on this occasion, instead playing short to Harry Winks, but Dewsbury-Hall dropping deeper to show for the ball was closely followed by Seelt.

Jenson Seelt's defensive activity map as per StatsBomb (Image: StatsBomb)

The Dutchman became something of a hybrid defender for Dodds in the second half as he tracked Leicester’s No.22 everywhere. Seelt has experience of operating in defensive midfield during his time in Holland with PSV and here we saw him step out of a back five in defence when required into that role to keep tabs on Dewsbury-Hall – something which contributed significantly towards Sunderland being able to limit Leicester’s threats in the second half, with Maresca’s side having just one attempt at goal in the second 45 minutes compared to nine efforts in the first half.

Sunderland (left) and Leicester City (right) shot maps from the first half (above) and second half (below) at the Stadium of Light (Image: StatsBomb)

Another example of how Sunderland were structured in their pressing of Faes can be seen below as they go man-for-man across the pitch with O’Nien, on this occasion, even being drawn wide to cover Akgün.

Another example of how much more focused Sunderland pressed in man-for-man on Wout Faes. Here, there are six players in the Leicester half including Luke O'Nien covering which contributes to forcing Faes into a dangerous area with few options (Image: Wyscout)

This controlled high press from Dodds’ side forces Faes into an uncomfortable position as he is almost turned towards his own goal for the first time of the evening. Given the way Maresca instructs his team to play, however, as a disciple of Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, Faes attempts to play a risky pass through the thirds of Sunderland’s press for Dewsbury-Hall, who has again dropped deeper to receive possession. But who should be waiting for the midfielder? None other than Seelt who is pressing high into the Leicester half.

Wout Faes tries to play a risky ball into Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall who is once again monitored closely by Jenson Seelt pressing high from defence (Image: Wyscout)

Sunderland were executing the game plan much better after Leicester’s impressive opening and that was aided by the changes made by Dodds around the hour mark with the introduction of Adil Aouchiche and Romaine Mundle. The duo continued the work of Ekwah and Hemir whilst also providing width in attack, as Sunderland searched for a route back into the game.

Mike Dodds' substitutions of Adil Aouchiche and Romaine Mundle contributed towards their impact in the second half in trying to force goalkeeper Mads Hermansen more direct whilst also creating more width in attack (Image: Wyscout)

StatsBomb's passing network demonstrates how more advanced Sunderland were in the second half against Leicester (Image: StatsBomb)

There became a concerted effort to force Hermansen a little more direct, with Faes closely monitored. But, much like Faes, Hermansen continued to operate in Leicester’s approach as he too searched for Dewsbury-Hall, who was once more met by Seelt in what is Leicester's defensive third of the field.

Mads Hermansen doesn’t want to go direct so looks for a similar pass as Wout Faes into Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Jenson Seelt is again tracking him into his own half (Image: Wyscout)

When Hermansen did eventually opt to go long, after being put under pressure by an advanced Jobe, Faes was the target out wide where Aouchiche makes a big effort to track back and close the Belgian down. On top of that, however, as you can see, Aouchiche is aided by Neil and O’Nien who have immediately closed the angle and give the Leicester defender little way out.

When Mads Hermansen is forced more direct, Sunderland close down the angles especially well with the likes of Adil Aouchiche, Dan Neil and Luke O'Nien (Image: Wyscout)

Sunderland, and Dodds for that matter, will be hoping Aouchiche can produce more in an attacking sense down the stretch of the season, but here it was his selfless defensive work which stood out.

Below, the Frenchman takes a free kick from the right which is cleared as far as Neil. The midfielder sizes up an effort at goal before being closed down as Leicester look to spring a counter-attack through Hamza Choudhury.

With Dewsbury-Hall free of Seelt for once in the second half, it was left to Aouchiche to chase back 60-yards and win back possession to deny the attack.

Adil Aouchiche shows excellent desire to track back and deny Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall on a Leicester counter-attack (Image: Wyscout)

As the game progressed into the closing stages, Sunderland became a little more adventurous which left them susceptible like we saw against Swansea – as can be seen below when substitute Callum Styles tries to operate in a tight space leaving himself exposed to the counter-attack.

Sunderland did live dangerously in the closing stages as they pressed for an equaliser - tactics similar to what we saw against Swansea from the off where here we see Callum Styles turn into trouble in a dangerous area (Image: Wyscout)

Although this display, in the end, did not yield anything in terms of points, it was certainly something for Dodds and his staff to take plenty from – particularly with how they handled Leicester in the second half.

Sunderland's pressure (above) and heat maps (below) during the first half (left) and second half (right) against Leicester City (Image: StatsBomb)

“We’ve played against a really, really good team on Tuesday and we were fearless for probably 75 per cent of the game and when I took the responsibility of this position I said that I felt we needed a team that was representative of the city and the fans,” said Dodds.

“But one of the things that I’ve said to the group is that they’ve set a standard and a precedent now in terms of how we should look, and I hope that is the mantle going forward.

“It’s taken us a game or two to get back to that kind of intensity, but I take huge positives from what I saw in terms of their application, not the result.”

There are tweaks to be made, certainly in their endeavours to find a solution in attack, but for Dodds this may be the blueprint to reignite Sunderland’s season.