Talking Tactics: Sunderland bitten by the Foxes

Opposition lineup

Leicester came into this game on the back of three consecutive defeats in the league, which had reduced their lead at the top of the table as the chasing pack closed in.

Enzo Maresca decided to make four changes from the side that lost at home to QPR at the weekend, with Jamie Vardy, Yunus Akgün, Conor Coady and ex-Sunderland loanee Callum Doyle coming into the side.

Maresca opted for his usual 4-2-3-1 formation, with Coady and Wout Faes spread wide, Doyle providing width on the overlap and Hamza Choudhury drifting inside to form a box midfield with his central partners.

Leicester like to retain possession and almost identically to Manchester City, they’ll suffocate opposition teams to try and win it back as soon as the ball is turned over.

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Sunderland lineup

Mike Dodds opted to make several changes to the side that lost to Norwich City on Saturday.

Romain Mundle and Callum Styles made way for the returning Dan Ballard and Chris Rigg, with the youngster making his first league start for the Lads.

Dodds decided to return to a back five against the Foxes, with the clear aim of holding a resolute shape and looking to take opportunities to counter whenever possible, as we did against Leeds.

Our shape was very much a 5-3-2 with Rigg, Dan Neil and Pierre Ekwah in central midfield, Hemir leading the line and Jobe sat just behind him with the intention of running the channels and providing width in possession whilst dropping back into a midfield four when needed.

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Leicester set the tone early

We started the game by aggressively pressing Leicester after several minutes without the ball in the early exchanges, despite it seemingly being the logical thing to do against a team who are happy to hold possession in their own final third.

Swansea had done the same thing to us ten days prior and it played perfectly into Leicester’s hands.

In what could only be described as a ten minute spell of ‘liquid football’, Leicester invited us in and as soon as the press was initiated, the Foxes would string together five or six first time passes to expose the gaps, with both Vardy and Stephy Mavididi finding themselves in acres of space.

In Leicester’s defence, the quality on display was devastating and if not for some early heroics by Anthony Patterson, the game could’ve been all but over within ten minutes.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

Man-to-man marking

Dodds clearly decided that best way to smother Leicester’s threat was to match up man to man with the Foxes, and each player was given instructions to stay tight to their opposite number.

Ballard was assigned to Vardy; Luke O’Nien picked up Akgün through the middle and Ekwah and Neil were tasked with marking Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall and Harry Winks respectively.

Things went wrong as a result of the assignment of Trai Hume to Doyle and Jenson Seelt to Mavididi, with the pairing of the latter representing a total mismatch in pace.

Doyle often drifted infield and by dragging Hume with him, exposed Seelt against the technical skill and pace of Mavididi in the inside left channel.

This move occurred numerous times in the opening minutes and subsequently led to the free kick from which Leicester were able to take the lead through Vardy.

Photo by Plumb Images/Leicester City FC via Getty Images

A timid Sunderland press causes problems

Despite not creating many clear cut opportunities in the first half, Dodds instructed his players to relax the pressing entirely after the goal, whilst still maintaining a high line.

This forced Leicester to slow the pace of the game right down and limited their ability to threaten further. By holding a high defensive line, we were able to prevent ourselves from falling into a low block and allowing Leicester to advance the ball with ease.

As a result, the visitors continued to maintain possession and dominate the ball in their own half, albeit without triggering a press. The possession was passive and didn’t allow the opportunity for a quick interchange of passes.

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A different approach in the second half

After the break, we opted to take the game to Leicester and slowly reduced their possession percentage as they began to feel content with their slender advantage.

Although our tactics remained very similar, players began to win their individual battles defensively and Leicester began to lose the ball more frequently through individual duels.

The key trigger was Hume’s long range effort crashing against the crossbar just after the hour mark, which prompted Leicester to drop deeper and surrender possession, thereby allowing us to control the ball inside the Foxes half.

For all of the sustained pressure we placed on Maresca’s side, we got nothing, but we came come away knowing we certainly made them sweat and weren’t rolled over the in way many fans expected us to be.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Rigg shines on a big occasion

Chris Rigg made his first start in the league for Sunderland against what’ll be a Premier League side next season and he took to his role on the right of a midfield three incredibly well.

Rigg completed 20/27 passes and had a 100% dribble success rate. He was also particularly tidy in his ability to drop a shoulder in midfield and lose his marker before progressing the play forward.

Defensively, he wasn’t afraid to throw himself about, winning 2/2 tackles and 7/8 of his ground duels.

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Ballard’s back!

Dan Ballard made his long-awaited return to the Sunderland defence after what felt like an age on the sidelines due to suspension, and even though he wasn’t able to keep a clean sheet, we’ve missed his dominance in defence.

Ballard didn’t stand out statistically, but he made eight recoveries and five clearances, and was only dribbled past once during the game, showing that we’ve got our defensive anchor back in the side.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

Hemir’s home cameo

In a rare home sighting of the young striker, the Portuguese attacker retained his place in the side from the game at Carrow Road.

However, the service to him was minimal at best, with the striker rarely receiving a pass during the hour in which he played. Despite this, he laid the ball off well at every opportunity, completing 6/8 passes and turning the Leicester defence with his movement.

He’s looking much more interested than earlier in the season, and it can only be a good sign for the young striker moving forward. If readers can’t tell I’m somewhat of a believer in him, I feel we’ll only see him develop further with a run of games.

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The last word

Ultimately, we came away from this game with nothing and we haven’t picked up a point since February 10.

Things are looking bleak and despite Dodds trying a variety of tactical approaches, we’re still struggling and with a tough away trip to St Mary’s Stadium looming, things aren’t getting any easier.

However, we can be encouraged by the second half performance and can look ahead to the weekend with a little more optimism.

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

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