A well earned draw at Man City, and a fantastic win at Chelsea, Gus Poyet's side now look like they will stave off relegation, and still have a game in hand.
So just how has the former Brighton manager transformed Sunderland?
His first game away to Swansea did not all go well, a 4-0 loss the end result, but the Uruguayan got his team up for the Tyne-Wear derby (Im a toon fan) made some very good and mastermind tactical decisions, for example playing a "rough and tough" 4-4-2 with Altidore and Fletcher up against in experience Paul Dummett and Mike Williamson, and Borini's late strike won them the game.
Cup wins against Chelsea and Manchester United fired them through to the Capital One cup final and boosted their confidence, and looked the better team for the first 45 minutes against City, until Pellegrini's side turned the game on it's head and won the cup 3-1.
So it has been a decent second half of the season for Sunderland, probably their best performances coming against Newcastle and Fulham, they now look set for another premier league season.
I will be attempting to re-create the tactics that Gus Poyet has used to turn around Sunderland's season, and i would appreciate it if you took the time to test these out (haven't learnt how to upload tactics yet). A 4-1-4-1, 4-1-2-2-1 and a 5-3-2 will be the formations.
I will be using the same team instructions throughout the three tactics, to try and keep the same philosophy.
Philosophy: Very Fluid
Team Instructions:
Shorter Passing
Retain possession
pass into space
play out of defence
Work ball into box
run at defence
look for overlap
play wider
push higher up
more roaming
hassle opponents
higher tempo
be more expressive
Tactic 1: (Control)
----------SK/D-----------
FB/S BPD/D BPD/D FB/S
-----------A/D------------
------AP/S DLP/S------
IF/A------------------IF/A
-----------CF/A-----------
Tactic 2: (Counter)
----------SK/D-----------
FB/S BPD/D BPD/D FB/S
-----------A/D------------
W/A DLP/S AP/S W/A
-----------P/A-----------
Tactic 3: (Counter)
------------SK/D-------------
----BPD/D BPD/C BPD/D----
CWB/A----------------CWB/A
-----AP/A BWM/D AP/A------
-----------P/A F9/S----------
Player Instructions: (for all three tactics)
SK/D: Pass it shorter, distribute to defenders
DLP/S or AP/S: More direct passes
A/D or BWM/D: Pass it shorter, Shoot less often (only for BWM)
CF/A: Move into channels
IF/A or W/A: Get further forward
So yeah please feel free to correct any mistakes or add any alterations, and i would appreciate it if you tried it out, i will try it out soon and will post results
So just how has the former Brighton manager transformed Sunderland?
His first game away to Swansea did not all go well, a 4-0 loss the end result, but the Uruguayan got his team up for the Tyne-Wear derby (Im a toon fan) made some very good and mastermind tactical decisions, for example playing a "rough and tough" 4-4-2 with Altidore and Fletcher up against in experience Paul Dummett and Mike Williamson, and Borini's late strike won them the game.
Cup wins against Chelsea and Manchester United fired them through to the Capital One cup final and boosted their confidence, and looked the better team for the first 45 minutes against City, until Pellegrini's side turned the game on it's head and won the cup 3-1.
So it has been a decent second half of the season for Sunderland, probably their best performances coming against Newcastle and Fulham, they now look set for another premier league season.
I will be attempting to re-create the tactics that Gus Poyet has used to turn around Sunderland's season, and i would appreciate it if you took the time to test these out (haven't learnt how to upload tactics yet). A 4-1-4-1, 4-1-2-2-1 and a 5-3-2 will be the formations.
I will be using the same team instructions throughout the three tactics, to try and keep the same philosophy.
Philosophy: Very Fluid
Team Instructions:
Shorter Passing
Retain possession
pass into space
play out of defence
Work ball into box
run at defence
look for overlap
play wider
push higher up
more roaming
hassle opponents
higher tempo
be more expressive
Tactic 1: (Control)
----------SK/D-----------
FB/S BPD/D BPD/D FB/S
-----------A/D------------
------AP/S DLP/S------
IF/A------------------IF/A
-----------CF/A-----------
Tactic 2: (Counter)
----------SK/D-----------
FB/S BPD/D BPD/D FB/S
-----------A/D------------
W/A DLP/S AP/S W/A
-----------P/A-----------
Tactic 3: (Counter)
------------SK/D-------------
----BPD/D BPD/C BPD/D----
CWB/A----------------CWB/A
-----AP/A BWM/D AP/A------
-----------P/A F9/S----------
Player Instructions: (for all three tactics)
SK/D: Pass it shorter, distribute to defenders
DLP/S or AP/S: More direct passes
A/D or BWM/D: Pass it shorter, Shoot less often (only for BWM)
CF/A: Move into channels
IF/A or W/A: Get further forward
So yeah please feel free to correct any mistakes or add any alterations, and i would appreciate it if you tried it out, i will try it out soon and will post results
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