Can Sunderland Find Inspiration In The FA Cup?
With league activity paused, can the Lads use the trip to Oxford to rebuild after successive losses?
Ciaran McKenna says…
Suffering back-to-back league defeats and losing our unbreakable home record were difficult blows to bear, but losing to one of the finest clubs in the world — and the defending league winners at that — is nothing to be ashamed of.
Oxford offers an excellent opportunity to get back on track, but I know they will not make it easy for us. They’re struggling in the league and haven’t won in four games, so the FA Cup could be a nice opportunity to elevate the fans and give them hope for the rest of the season.
With this in mind, I believe Régis Le Bris will field the strongest team possible this weekend.
In the last round against Everton, I expected us to rotate and focus more on the league, but I was mistaken, as a powerful eleven helped us advance to the next round.
Of course, Everton are a far better side than Oxford, but Le Bris appears to be interested in the FA Cup and its possibilities, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a competent team hit the pitch this weekend.
However, the lads have had a difficult and stressful week. Games against Arsenal and Liverpool would have taken a lot out of them, potentially forcing Le Bris to rotate the squad.
I recall him saying in the build-up to the Everton game that he would chat with each player to see if they were up to the task — and I assume he did the same this week.
I wonder if Melker Ellborg will make his first start in goal on Sunday, and if Jocelin Ta Bi will be included in the team for the first time since his arrived.
I would like to see the greatest team available to us play this weekend, but whether that happens is another issue. By 1:00pm on Sunday, our queries will be answered, and we will have a better understanding of our chances in this tournament.
John Wilson says…
Losing twice in a row is an odd feeling for Sunderland fans, but it’s worth noting that, thanks to the quirks of the fixture computer, we’ve already played last season’s champions and this season’s champions-elect — with a game against Manchester City thrown in for good measure.
Despite this, it’s been a very good and inspiring season, and for the first time in a long time, the FA Cup provides us with real optimism and opportunities. We don’t have the rigorous, continuous series of midweek games that EFL and European teams do.
We are also not in a relegation battle, so the FA Cup can be a welcome distraction from our regular games. According to all of the club’s statements and communications, this appears to be the truth; in fact, Noah Sadiki stated that the cup is “just as important as the league games”.
It’s nice to hear. Consecutive defeats may have dashed any European ambitions that some of the more optimistic fans (myself included) had, therefore the cup tie could come at the perfect time to re-energise the squad and fans, as well as provide us with something to fight for on a new front.
No matter how proud we should be of a probable mid-table position at the end of the season, it gives the players little reason to pull out all the stops and compete in every game – an FA Cup run can provide that.
So, while I expect a few changes this weekend (some possibly forced), I’m confident we’ll field a solid team and take Oxford very seriously. Being in the hat for round five may begin to spark some creativity!
Malc Dugdale says…
I’m looking forward to the game, and I hope we win, because after a tough few Premier League games (with a decent result against Burnley in the midst), we really need something to lift the Lads and the supporters up.
I’m the type of fan who understands that we’re likely to lose to Arsenal and Liverpool in our first season back at the top level, and that getting points from these teams this season has always been a difficult task after doing well previously.
That’s especially true when the games are so close together, and we’ve just been without our captain.
Despite only taking two points out of twelve available, they are established elite teams, which is not a terrible haul for a squad like ours.
I also understand that losing is a difficult pill to swallow, exacerbated by Sunderland’s failure to play as well as we know they can — albeit Arsenal’s performance, aside from the score, was not awful at all.
Many of us went to Oxford when we were in the depths of League One, and I have pleasant recollections of the away end limbs and Elliot Embleton scoring for us as we advanced through the stages of our journey.
The team we bring to their strange, three-sided stadium will be considerably different from the one that faced Arsenal and Liverpool, but it’s a terrific opportunity for some of the fringe players to receive some minutes and for more relationships to evolve and solidify.
It’s also an opportunity for certain players to rest a little and enjoy the excitement of the FA Cup from the bench if necessary, while possibly recovering and preparing for the next Premier League struggle to come.
In short, this is a breath of fresh air in which we can rotate while still playing terrific football and hopefully go to the next round without too much fuss and trouble – preferably with zero injuries to our Premier League starts.
On the day, I’d hope to see more of Lutsharel Geertruida, Wilson Isidor, Romaine Mundle, Eliezer Mayenda, Dennis Cirkin, Chris Rigg and possibly our new custodian, Melker Ellborg.Drop a few of the first eleven around that, and we should have enough to win.
We’re relatively secure in the league, so let’s give it a shot and put a smile back on everyone’s faces before the league resumes.
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