Ahhh Sunderland.

Ahhh Sunderland. As of the day I am writing this, the 10^th February 2012, Sunny Sunderland are on a five game unbeaten run, lie 8^th in the league and are through to the fifth round of the FA Cup. The source of their success... none other than Martin O’Neill. Sunderland’s answer to the Messiah after his first 13 games in charge have lead to nine wins, two draws and only two defeats; this, with the same team that managed only 11 points in the first 13 games. Saying that, Steve Bruce was tactically, pretty useless. (In contrast to that negative statement, he’s a lovely man!).

Using the same players “destined for relegation”, the Black Cats have also scored some stunning goals. ‘Jolly Good!’ is what you may be thinking. But there’s a problem creeping in, a small problem that’s really winding me up. It’s not the tactics, it could be the away kit, however that’s a different matter; and it’s not the coaching staff. The issue that is beginning to creep in is complacency.

Jack Colback, a twenty three year old central midfielder, still in the early stages of his career.  So when Frazier Campbell heads the ball back to him on the edge of the area, experience tells you a player of his standard will take a touch and put it wide. Instead, after a fantastically well taken touch to set himself up, he hammers the ball into the top corner, leaving the keeper no chance of saving it. Now a boy growing up in the North-East, scoring in a derby, you’d expect his shirt off and running round the pitch like a horse on LSD. However, he just stands there. Modesty? No, the confidence level is so high, spectacular just isn’t that spectacular When he scored his last goal against Everton, his fellow Sunderland players were struggling to keep up with him.

The stats for the Middlesbrough game only add to my concerns; Sunderland had 19 shots, 10 of them on target. 13 of the 19 shots came from outside of the box. Of the six shots that came from inside the box, six were on target. So using some simple maths, we can see that four of the 13 shots from outside of the box were on target.

Why not just pass it on and keep building up the move, rather than end it before it finds its momentum?

Phil Bardsley, once known for his sensible and effective full back play, now, after scoring two screamers over the past two seasons, seems unable to pick out a pass when he enters the opponents final third. In his own half, he’s thoughtful and patient; in the other teams half he seems to be under the impression that he is a love child of Messi and David Silva. Some may say that two goals in 30 shots isn’t bad for a defender. Fair enough, until you notice that 21 of the 30 were off target.

To put it this way, Sunderland players aren’t content with scoring easy goals anymore.  Every time they moved the ball into the box, they seemed lost, looking for a man outside of the box rather than taking a crack at goal. The question is, now they face a strong team in Arsenal next game, can the Martin O’Neill effect continue to work wonders, or will the kettle bubble over and lead to a catastrophic defeat. My prediction, Arsenal four, Sunderland nil. And I think it’ll do wonders for their confidence.