Sunderland AFC - “We’ve Just Got To Want it More!”

Football is really simple isn’t it! Nine times out of ten, the team who wants it more wins it.

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Article by Ben Mummery

This is true from grass roots up to Premier League. Short of a team having truly world class players, the likes of Messis, Ronaldos, Neymars etc, AKA players who can single handedly influence the outcome of a game, when one side fights harder, more often than not they win.

Sunderland have shown so little fight in the majority of their fixtures for so long now that most fans generally hold true that if we concede first, we’re going to lose the game. There haven’t been too many times that spring to mind in recent years where we’ve let the first goal in and either come back to claim a point, or go on to win. This weekend’s away fixture at Anfield well and truly bucked the trend!

Regardless of the manner in which it was done, we managed to salvage a draw from the jaws of defeat, which I believe says a huge amount about Sam Allardyce’s team and their intent to survive this season’s relegation battle in which they have, once again, found themselves involved.

All fans have been crying out for this side to stop rolling over when they’re on the ropes, stop conceding easy goals, stop being the whipping boys for a change. Having the ability to claw your way back into a difficult fixture like Liverpool away says a lot about the guts of the team, it says a lot about the manager and the sense of belief he can instill in a set of players to whom winning is far from a regularity.

Anyone who’s ever played Sunday league has heard the same awe inspiring speech in the shed/portacabin/back-of-a-van ‘changing rooms’ before they run out onto a ploughed parsnip field two feet deep in mud, only to get kicked up a height for ninety minutes and play out a 9-9 draw:

“We have to want it more than them!”

While we all like a laugh at the great British institution that is Sunday football, this statement is in fact completely true and sadly, Sunderland just haven’t wanted to win enough in recent seasons. Moreover, only the dawning realization that they’re about to be relegated seems to have spurred recent squads into life towards the end of our last few campaigns.

The appointment of a no nonsense manager like Sam Allardyce seems to have filled fans with the hope that perhaps finally, we have a man who “wants it more” than other sides do, and with any luck this will rub off onto the players.

There have been glimpses of this during Big Sam’s reign so far, but no more than Saturday’s second half showing against Liverpool.

Sunderland simply reverted to type in the opening half of Saturday’s game, camped on the edge of our box, sitting too deep and inviting Liverpool onto us, only to bang long ball after long ball vaguely “Defoe-wards” in the hope the little forward would somehow beat the towering figures of Sakho and Toure to a high ball and conjure up some kind of magic. Needless to say, none of this worked and we were lucky to go into the break scoreless! Frustration spread quickly among fans and our manager looked pleased to get his team into the changing room at half time for a stern word!

The second half started bleakly, as Billy Jones was caught napping on the ball, leading to a superb cross from James Milner directly to the forehead of Firminho to put the hosts 1-0 up. Slack defending again lead to the home side’s second, which Adam Lallana was able to walk into our gaping net.

The introduction of Adam Johnson on the 66th minute suggested that Allardyce was keen to throw caution to the wind and have a go – what had we to lose after all?

A poorly conceded free kick near the edge of the box allowed Johnson to sneak in his curled effort past Mignolet’s near post. Poor keeping from the Belgian in all fairness, though replays suggested he seemed to have been unsighted by a poorly positioned defensive wall.

The goal was our lifeline back into the game, and if Liverpool had anything about them, they should have shut up shop and held on for all three points.

It’s worth a mention that the Liverpool fans did stage a protest on the 77th minute, which saw a good number of them leave the ground in protest over a planned ticket price increase.

This is perfectly understandable, and one can’t help sympathize with supporters who are being drained financially by clubs taking a lend of their luxurious top-flight position.

Liverpool FC know they can fill their ground over and over, there is a long waiting list for season tickets, and a planned increase in prices stinks of the club taking advantage of fans.

This said, not one of the fans who left the ground could have stopped Khazri turning Shako brilliantly on the edge of the Liverpool penalty area, nor could they have stopped Jermain Defoe doing what he does best – spinning a defender and blasting home a superb goal from his right foot.

Sunderland had thrown the kitchen sink at Liverpool in the last portions of the game following Johnson’s goal, Patrick van Aanholt and Khazri teamed up superbly on more than one occasion to threaten Liverpool down their right flank. Our second goal came from simple persistence, a refusal to lie down and accept defeat. In short, we showed we had some bottle!

As the imposing relegation battle looms large in coming weeks, this “bottle” is going to be the key ingredient if we are to achieve our aim. Our manager has moved to strengthen our squad in the January transfer window, bringing in players like Kone, Kirchhoff and Khazri, all of whom improve our starting eleven. The quality has increased, now the effort must increase to match it.

We’re all enjoying watching Leicester City at the top end of the table doing the impossible, beating all comers in their bid to win the English title. They’re doing it with heart, desire, pace power and buckets full of fight! Sunderland can take inspiration from this, just watch Jamie Vardy for ten minutes of a match – it’s enough to make you want to pull your boots on and go have a game right now!

This is the type of energy and passion the Black Cats are going to have to summon up in order to get the necessary points to survive. Whether or not we can do it is anyone’s guess!!

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