Phil and James react as Sunderland disappoint against Watford during 2-2 draw

Sunderland Echo

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00:00Hello, welcome to the Stadium Night. James and Phil here. Sunderland 2, Watford 2, really

00:05put up a solid performance. I thought Phil they could have won it. In the end, haven't

00:10equalised. Two really, really good chances. One from Wilson Eastdoor, another from Milano

00:14Lecic. Strange game. Sunderland's home, unbeaten record in the league. Remains intact though?

00:20Yeah, I mean that's something to take from it. But I think, to be honest, I thought Watford

00:23were the better team actually. If we're brutally honest, until those last two chances, it was

00:28only set-pieces that Sunderland actually created and then both the goals come from set-pieces.

00:32Obviously a lot of credit for that has to go to Watford. I thought particularly on possession,

00:36they made it really hard for Sunderland. They were really composed. Sunderland didn't really

00:39seem to be able to get that press going. They didn't seem to be able to apply any pressure

00:42on the ball. Watford always seem to have an out ball. Some sloppy play, both to give away

00:47the penalty and then to let Watford in straight after half-time. After that, I thought Sunderland

00:50were really panicked. I thought everything was rushed. Trying to play too many magic

00:53balls, just didn't really build any concerted pressure. If Watford had defended their set-pieces

00:59properly, they would have got a deserved win. It's a point on the board, but you have to

01:03say that the last couple of home games, points against Plymouth and Watford, for me, I just

01:08don't think that's going to be enough for Sunderland to be in the top two. There'll

01:10be a lot of twists and turns, don't get me wrong. Still a lot to play for, but it's still

01:13like two really, really, really costly bonus goals.

01:16I felt Watford were really physical generally throughout the game, especially in the middle.

01:20It's an easy place to look, but obviously, Joe missed the game because of an injury.

01:24Salas Abdul-Samad came in, although he did very well against Middlesbrough when he came

01:29on in that game. For me, that midfield, the balance just didn't seem quite right. I think

01:34that contributed towards Sunderland's downfall today.

01:36Yes, I thought that, to be brutally honest, I thought Sunderland carried a lot of players

01:40today and we're not used to seeing that this season. Whether it was fatigue, whether it's

01:44a different format, I'm not quite sure. I thought I agree with you. I thought Solis

01:47did some nice things early on. There was a lovely pass for Roberts, but it didn't quite

01:50work. I don't think Rijkaard did his best game today, to be honest. I thought he struggled

01:54to hold the ball. I think you could say the same about Roberts. Lefebvre did some really

01:58good stuff and some not so good stuff, which obviously we're not used to seeing from him.

02:02Isidoro not at his best. I thought there's very, very few players really. I thought Daniel

02:06did okay. I thought Lyon 0-9 had a decent game, and I'm certain not at his best. It

02:12just wasn't someone's day-to-day. I think there's very few who will think that they've

02:16produced their best today.

02:18The thing is, we mentioned physicality and we mentioned perhaps tired legs. Perhaps Sunderland

02:23are a little bit tired mentally. There's a game mid-week against Luton who are on the

02:28physical side with a little respite in between, so they've got to go again, haven't they?

02:32Yes, for me, Sunderland have got to keep the ball better. I know what you mean about the

02:35physicality, but I actually thought Watford were the most composed team, especially in

02:37that second half. Watford were making better decisions on the ball and Sunderland were

02:42just so rushed, so panicked. Whether that's the pressure, whether that's a bit of anxiety

02:46creeping in as the pressure grows, I don't know and that's something they're definitely

02:49going to have to think about because most of that second half was far too easy for Watford.

02:53I actually think Watford made a big error bringing another defender on towards the end.

02:56They actually allowed Sunderland a bit more space and time on the ball and I thought that

03:00was a bit of a turning point, so I thought that was a big late error from Watford, who

03:04should have, to be honest, in my opinion, should have won the game. Alright, they didn't

03:06create loads and loads of chances, but I thought they always had way too much control.

03:10Can we take some solace from the fact that Sunderland could and probably should have

03:15won it at the end of the game with two good chances, perhaps, despite being under par,

03:19they're still in games, they're still fighting. Is that a grain of comfort or is it a sense,

03:25should we be of the opinion that Sunderland should really be putting Watford to bed early

03:29on in that game if they want to be automatic? Yeah, I think it's two games that's in the

03:33Premier League and you have to win. Yes, you can definitely take comfort from the fact

03:36they play until the final whistle. We've seen that lots this season and they definitely

03:39deserve praise for that and who knows, there will be twists and turns. It could be a very

03:43important point, but definitely a disappointment for them. Right, well, thank you very much. On

03:47the whistle tomorrow as usual. On the whistle tomorrow as usual, yeah. Podcast on Monday,

03:50I think. Head over to the Sunderland Echo website for all the latest Sunderland content.

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