My Reasons For Flakey Start

Likely Starting Eleven for Sunderland:

----------------------------------------Reina

-------------------------Skrtel----------------------Agger

Johnson-----------------------------Allen--------------------------Enrique

-------------------------Gerrard--------------Sahin/Shelvey

----------Sterling-------------------Suarez------------------Borini


Reason One:
Changing from a low lying defense to a high line. Under Kenny we were a very succesful counter attacking team, which is one of reasons we did well against bigger teams and not against lower teams. This deep lying defence seemed to be a tactical aspect that came from Steve Clarke, and was a reason why we had a good defensive record despite our league position.

Under Rodgers we have transfered to a much more high line at the back, which will take time for the defenders to get used to. We have already seen the likes of Skrtel and Agger get caught round the back, but this is something that will improve overtime. A major shift in defensive tactics will obviously take time for players to get used to. The result will be a defence that control a game, instead of relying on a counter attacking style.

Reason Two:
Movement upfront and position awareness. Under Kenny we were at times very fluid, especially during his caretaker spell, but gradually became too direct and less creative. This I put down to replacing the likes of Maxi Rodriquez, Dirk Kuyt and Raul Meireles with the likes of Jordan Henderson, Andy Carroll and Charlie Adam. We still seem to have that lack of understanding and patience in the final third. At times it seems we force the ball too much, and I think Luis Suarez and Steven Gerrard have been two players guilty of this.

A point I would probably use to criticise Brendan is his positioning of players. Luis Suarez and Fabio Borini seem to be playing in each others position under Brendan. Suarez is in my opinion better coming late into the box, and creating from the left like he did for Ajax. Borini is a player who can work very hard and close defenders down, but his main strength is his movement and directness in the box. I would like to see Brendan experiment with their positions more, and move them around.

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Anyway these are the two key reasons I can see to a slow start, which should have been expected anyway. Both tactical points will need time to develop, and then we will see what Rodgers came here for.

However, there haven't just been negatives. Allen looks like a very astute signing, and will vital to how our team plays and controls games. Sterling and Shelvey have been examples of our good youth prospects.

Thoughts?