The last three weeks have felt like purgatory ahead of the play-offs, with Regis Le Bris’ decision to prioritise fitness over form having resulted in four successive games without a victory.
Will that matter when the play-offs begin, with Sunderland now assured to finish in fourth position? Who knows. Some will argue it is better to have fresh players on a losing run rather than tired ones with a string of previous victories under their belt. Others will claim momentum is crucial in the play-offs and question the wisdom of Le Bris’ decision-making.
The reality is that the impact of the last four matches will only become clear once the real business begins next month. For now, Sunderland fans will simply have to comfort themselves with the knowledge that a 1-0 home defeat to Blackburn means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things. If things go well in the play-offs, no one will remember that Tyrhys Dolan’s first-half strike condemned the Black Cats to a second successive 1-0 home defeat.
It was no surprise to see Le Bris rotating his side again, but even by the standards of the last few weeks, this felt like quite a reshuffle. Joe Anderson made his first league start at left-back 811 days after joining Sunderland from Everton, Salis Abdul Samed made only his third starting appearance for the Black Cats at the heart of midfield and Harrison Jones made the second league start of his career slightly further forward.
Clearly, the play-offs are the priority. But Le Bris now has two games in which to reassemble his first-choice side and attempt to regenerate much of the momentum that has dissipated in the last few weeks. There was always going to be a trade-off between rotating in order to rest players and sacrificing results. That job is surely done now; it is time to start gearing up for the play-offs.
While Le Bris has successfully been able to refresh some of his key players, none of those stepping in to take their places have made much of a case for remaining in the side. Jones was the pick of Sunderland’s fringe players yesterday, with his darting runs forward from the heart of midfield repeatedly threatening to unpick the Blackburn defence, but as was the case in the previous home game against Swansea, the standard of Sunderland’s collective performance was way below what will be required when the play-off begin.
Blackburn goalkeeper Balazs Toth got down to save Wilson Isidor’s fourth-minute shot after the striker had been played in by Jones, but that proved a rare moment of attacking excitement from those in red-and-white.
Alan Browne, deputising for the suspended Trai Hume at right-back, narrowly failed to force home Aleksic’s cross at the back post, but there was an understandable lack of cohesion to much of Sunderland’s attacking play. Given the mix-and-match nature of the starting line-up, perhaps it should have been no surprise that wires repeatedly appeared to be crossed.
Blackburn were even less threatening for the opening half-hour or so, with Luke O’Nien and Chris Mepham continuing to form an effective partnership at the heart of Sunderland’s back four. Even if Dan Ballard gets himself back to full fitness ahead of the first leg of the play-off semi-final, it is hard to see Le Bris leaving out either O’Nien or Mepham.
That said, though, Sunderland’s defence was found wanting as Blackburn opened the scoring 12 minutes before the break. It was an extremely well-worked goal from the visitors, with Cauley Woodrow attracting defenders towards him as he broke across the face of the penalty area before slipping in Dolan, who stepped inside Anderson and rifled an excellent left-footed finish into the roof of the net.
Dolan’s decisiveness in the 18-yard box was what was missing from Sunderland’s play, and while Le Bris continues to play down the significance of Isidor’s ongoing barren spell, the striker’s recent lack of success in front of goal has to be a worry.
Isidor’s latest failure to find the back of the net means he has now gone 11 games without a goal, a run that stretches back to the defeat at Leeds in mid-February. Eliezer Mayenda has scored four times in that period despite only starting six games, with his latest effort having been a Goal of the Season contender at Ashton Gate on Friday. The sensible money would still be on Isidor starting up front in the first game of the play-offs, but it is no longer an open-and-shut case.
Mayenda came on shortly after the hour mark yesterday, moments after Isidor had dragged a shot wide as the ball broke to him in the box, although the Spaniard played on the flank rather than alongside Isidor in attack.
