Yet while the losses to Leeds United and Hull City were both damaging and disappointing, it would be wrong to suggest they came completely out of the blue. Since exiting the FA Cup at the hands of Stoke City, Sunderland have won just three of their last eight league games.
True, two of those matches were against Leeds and Burnley, two of the three sides currently above them in the table. But at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland have now failed to beat Plymouth, Watford and Hull in their last four matches. While far from a disaster, that is more than simply a one-off failing. They were starting from an extremely high bar, but Regis Le Bris’ side have not been at their best since the turn of the year.
Why has the drop-off in form occurred? Multiple reasons, but in the wake of Saturday’s latest setback it was telling that Le Bris pointed to fatigue as an explanation for the underperformance of a number of his key players.
“It’s possible there’s some fatigue,” conceded the Sunderland boss. “It was our 34th game today and we have had a small squad, so we can understand that we can have a low point in our dynamic.
“The main question is the ambition, because we know to be at this level we will play many games. It’s a new experience for some of the players, not the number of games, but the number of games at this (high) level to be competitive at the top of the table.”
There have been times this season when Le Bris has benefited from using an extremely tight squad. When Sunderland were on a roll in the early months of the season, sticking with the same core group of players felt like the right thing to do. Relationships became established, patterns of play became engrained, positive momentum coursed through the Black Cats’ squad.
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Now, though, the dynamic has shifted. Jobe Bellingham has started 30 of Sunderland’s 34 league games, and if not quite in the same trough he fell into towards the end of last season, the 19-year-old is undoubtedly lacking his usual spark. Chris Rigg’s form has followed a similarly downward trajectory, perhaps a reflection of the fact that he has now started 28 league games this term. At the age of 17, that is bound to take a mental toll.
Dan Neil has only failed to start one league game in the whole of the season, and while the strength of the midfield triumvirate has been a key factor in Sunderland’s success this term, Saturday’s flat performance was indicative of a collective malaise that has set in since the turn of the year.
There is surely a need for a shake-up in the next few weeks, partly to create an opportunity for fresh faces to bring fresh ideas, but also to ensure that Bellingham and Rigg in particular are not running on empty by the time the play-offs come around. The likes of Alan Browne, Salis Abdul Samed and Milan Aleksic might not be at the levels of the players they would be replacing, but their presence in the side would at least refresh a group that has begun to go stale.
“For some players, there is probably now the opportunity to help the team and be connected with the shared project,” said Le Bris. “It’s a long journey with many games to play, and I hope we can find some solutions.”
The Black Cats boss also has to solve his side’s set-piece woes. Having conceded two goals from dead-ball deliveries at Leeds last Monday, Sunderland were beaten by another goal from a corner at the weekend.
Anthony Patterson was partly a fault for Leeds’ winner at Elland Road, but he was wholly culpable for Saturday’s concession, fumbling Joe Gelhardt’s inswinging corner into his own net. Yes, Gelhardt’s delivery was excellent, with the Hull forward revealing a skillset he kept firmly hidden during his time as a Sunderland loanee. Yes, Patterson was hardly helped by the ball skimming off Patrick Roberts, who was stationed at the front post.
The goalkeeper should still have done much better though, and for all that he has been excellent for the vast majority of his Sunderland career, Patterson’s failure to command his six-yard box is undoubtedly a contributory factor to his side’s ongoing struggles with set-pieces. If Patterson is not going to be decisive in coming to claim the ball, his team-mates are going to have to come up with a better way of protecting him.
Having fallen behind in the 18th minute, Sunderland spent the rest of Saturday’s game trying to fashion an equaliser, but while they created a couple of decent openings, they rarely threatened the Hull goal. Wilson Isidor headed wide at the back post and Eliezer Mayenda flashed a low drive just wide of the upright, but it was a day when the Black Cats never really looked like scoring.
“We’ve just got to find more creative ways to break down teams that play in that low block,” admitted Luke O’Nien. “And then when we do take the lead, teams are going to come out of their block and we’ve got to exploit that space.
“So, we know what we need to do, but it’s easier said than done. We just have to review it, watch it back and go again on Friday.”
