Are Black Cats set to strike at Eagles?

For Black Cat fans the defeat of QPR was at last a shaky, tentative step towards some positivity.

The caveat of course was that the 2-1 victory came against a Championship side and not opposition of Premier League calibre. Nonetheless a win is win and when you factor in that it came from a losing position it has to be seen as encouraging. Right?

The reality is that Sunderland have rarely been able to build on anything resembling success, certainly at this stage of the season and it will only be the most optimistic of supporters that feels this time will be any different.

Black Cats manager David Moyes decided to rest the likes of star striker Jermain Defoe and Lamine Koné for the trip to London. However, when the squad is relatively threadbare to begin with, frankly whether it’s a side that he elects to field in the EFL Cup or on a Saturday in the league, the quality of a Sunderland eleven currently feels much of a muchness.

It’s against this backdrop then that Sunderland go into the weekend game at home against Crystal Palace. Alan Pardew’s side is somewhat revitalised with two wins on the bounce in the Premier League. The Eagles’ front three looks terrifying in comparison to the Wearsiders’ attack which relies predominately only on Defoe for goals. Christian Benteke, Wilfred Zaha and Andros Townsend can cause any side problems on their day and had it not been for loanee Loic Remy returning to Chelsea due to injury matters could have been even worse.

So, how will Sunderland cope with the threat of Palace’s attack? Judging by Papy Djilobodji’s recent form it will certainly be a challenge. If we are going to point the finger of blame, the Black Cats’ Senegalese defender was at fault for a number of conceded goals over the last few games. However, I for one won’t write him off, yet. Yes, at 27 years of age you would expect more solidity in a central defender but in fairness there has to be a recognition that Sunderland need to do more as a team to take the pressure of the defence. Speaking about this recently Moyes said,

“You have to remember, in truth we’ve been under pressure in some of the games for 90 minutes. If you are a defender and you are under that level of pressure there is a chance you are going to make mistakes. We have to try to take that level of pressure away from the defenders, so they are not getting completely bombarded.”

He added,

“That is one of the things we have been talking about as a team, to become more aggressive ourselves instead of sitting and taking all the bullets.”

Should Djilobodji continue to make the same mistakes in future then he has to be taken out of the firing line. If that is the case then Jason Denayer or John O’Shea would be required to step into the breach as his replacement. The former has barely experienced the topflight and the latter is approaching the twilight of his career. In other words both are not necessarily better options and personally speaking I think it is worth sticking with Djilobodji for at least a few more games to see if matters improve.

All in all it feels like the key to a breakthrough in the Premier League is confidence, should one win be chalked up then hopefully a few more will follow. However, Moyes’ dour demeanour does not seem to be one which would naturally engender confidence.

And of course, when the team in question is Sunderland this is all easier said than done.