Sunderland v Leeds - Team/Reports/Ratings....

[weasel]

The strange thing at the moment is that I doubt anyone would have predicted anyone in the current top 8, apart from us and maybe Derby, to be in a promotion place. Shows the nature of the championship where any team can get promoted and any team can struggle.

[The Subhuman]

The strange thing at the moment is that I doubt anyone would have predicted anyone in the current top 8, apart from us and maybe Derby, to be in a promotion place. Shows the nature of the championship where any team can get promoted and any team can struggle.

Looks about right to me. Only Fulham have started a little slow. Bottom 5 is what you'd expect though and the rest is just the middle right now

90% sure I had Derby and Forest top 6 this season with Brum and sheff U. Not us though

[1964white]

Looks about right to me. Only Fulham have started a little slow. Bottom 5 is what you'd expect though and the rest is just the middle right now

90% sure I had Derby and Forest top 6 this season with Brum and sheff U. Not us though

I did say Sunderland & Hull would struggle

Cardiff & Ipswich are the surprise packages right now, unsure whether their form will last though !

As for Monk's expensive troops they have already lost 50% of their matches already, long may it continue. Sacked by Christmas

[LUFC 1966]

I thought Wiedwald did ok today . His distribution was not of the quality he showed on Tuesday = 6
Cooper Jansson Ayling -- Massive -- 8
Anita -- 6 bring back CBJ
Okane - 7 a few dodgy passes but ratted about well
Phillips 7.5 -- Plays well away from home
Saiz 9 - sublime
Alioski 9 - Had Galloway on toast
Hernandez - 6.5 Showed more away than he has for a while
Ekuban- 6 Tried hard , did the hard yards with no luck

Dallas - 7 took his goal well
Roofe- 6 still waiting for him to impress
Klich - 5 needs game time

[1964white]

Well if we continue playing like this our fans are in for a fantastic season.

I can't wait for the next game at Forest

We played some majestic football which at times left me purring especially when Saiz was on the ball, he runs with the ball at pace creating & scoring goals, a truly immense player. Pontus & Cooper were supreme at the back. Phillips & O'Kane were ran around biting like terriers at any Sunderland player that moved. Ayling is over the park almost playing as a winger. Big improvement from Alioski after a poor game v Fulham. Anita is so comfortable & neat on the ball. Hernandez was looking classy until his injury. Ekuban did well giving us pace upfront, shame about his injury. Roofe came on & harried the Mackems CB's. Dallas scores a bullet of a header after great work from Alioski & Samu. Felix appeared more settled too.

Still have reservations on Roofe, to think we spent £3m on him & we bought Saiz who is on a different planet for the same fee

7 - Wiedwald
9 - Ayling
9 - Janssen
9 - Cooper
8 - Anita
8 - O'Kane
9 - Phillips
7 - Hernandez
9.5 - Saiz
8.5 - Alioski
7 - Ekuban
Subs
6 - Roofe
7 - Dallas
n/a - Klich

[weasel]

Well if we continue playing like this us fans are in for a fantastic season.
I can't wait for the next game at Forest

We have to avoid getting carried away and turning on the team if they struggle as from what I have seen so far this season we may struggle against the more physical sides and there are a lot of them in the championship. Also our style may suit us more away from home when we don't have to try to break down a team set up to defend. Hopefully though with our continental boss and signings we have a bit more about us to be able to move the ball around quicker and create openings. Saiz will be key to this and also Hernandez who has the intelligence to create stuff when no-one else sees the pass - at times he has struggled as others haven't read his intentions but with cleverer footballers around him he could be absolutely key to our success. Alioski's pace, and trickery, can also unlock defences as he has the express pace that we thought Roofe had when we signed him but Roofe justs looks unable to get past a player with skill or speed.

Still have reservations on Roofe, to think we spent £3m on him & we bought Saiz who is on a different planet for the same fee

The huge difference between buying from abroad or buying from English teams and this is why the likes of Victor Orta and his scouting network is absolutely priceless for us. If you take Roofe, as the example, he shone at league 2 level and played well in a cup tie against premiership Swansea which is why he came to prominence with every team and fan knowing about him. Suddenly he was worth £3m yet someone like Alioski gets written off because they played in the top level of Swiss football, or Saiz because he only played in the second tier of Spanish football.

Another point which I feels bodes well for us transfer wise is that despite our interest in Saiz and Alioski becoming public very early we were still able to complete the deals so we had enough financial clout to buy the players and also pay the wages to attract them despite other team's becoming interested.

[Durly]

Wiedwald 7
Ayling 8
Jansson 8
Cooper 8
Anita 7.5
O'Kane 7.5
Phillips 7.5
Hernandez 7
Saiz 9
Alioski 8
Ekuban 6.5

Subs
Roofe 6.5
Dallas 7.5
Klich N/A