Reason to feel confident against Sunderland

[Sheffsteel]

I’ve seen it mentioned a few times by Sunderland and United fans that the league games during the season were both close affairs…..with Sunderland causing us problems.
However the last match that was played 1st Jan was at a time we had horrendous injuries and it was before the January transfer window.
Also let’s not forget, our main man Harry Souter had just got injured, so our defence was just finding it’s feet trying to deal with the massive loss of Souter.

Take a look at the team that played up at the Stadium of Light

Cooper
Gilchrist - Ahmedhodzic - Robinson - McCallum
Peck - Davies
O’Hare- Brewster - Hamer
Moore

But take a look at how incredibly weak the subs bench was for that match
Norrington-Davies, Baptiste, Burrows, Brooks, Boyes, Blacker, One, Marsh.

Even with that weak team we had 66% possession up at their ground, more shots, more corners and their winner came from a freak defensive mistake.
Agree, altho Sunderland didn’t attack much, they did look dangerous with their quick counter attacks but we’ll be better prepared for that.

Now we will have Holding, Burrows, Sereki, Choudhury, Vini Souza, Rak Sakyi, Cannon and Campbell available.
Our subs bench was filled with several Academy players in the league match where as now it will be filled with top end Championship level players.

I’m sure Wilder will know this but I reckon the subs bench will be key
It will be demoralising for Sunderland knowing we will be able to bring on the likes of Sereki, O’Hare, Tom Davies, Brewster, Rak Sakyi, Holding and Cannon from the bench. These are all players who would easily make the 1st 11 of almost every other Championship club.

It’s the later stages of the match and maybe in extra time where we will have a massive advantage…where Sunderland simply can’t compete.

 

[Flumps]

There's plenty of reasons to feel confident. Unfortunately it's all over shadowed by how familiar we are with uniteds ability to show far too much love to opponents in big games and\or completely fail to rise to the occasion (matron)

There's not a doubt in my mind that squad can beat Sunderland and comfortably. Whether they believe that is a different matter. Ever the pessimist

 

[alcoblade]

Here's the list of reasons why I'm confident;































































































































































.

 

[Sheffsteel]

There's plenty of reasons to feel confident. Unfortunately it's all over shadowed by how familiar we are with uniteds ability to show far too much love to opponents in big games and\or completely fail to rise to the occasion (matron)

There's not a doubt in my mind that squad can beat Sunderland and comfortably. Whether they believe that is a different matter. Ever the pessimist

True but in past play-offs we were relying on certain individuals to perform.

The difference now is if a player is nervous and having an off day we can sub him off and bring on someone just as good.
We have many more options than Sunderland because we strengthened in the January to cover injuries however the injuries have virtually all cleared up.

So our squad is stacked with top end Champiomship/ arguably lower end PL players. It’s not fair on Sunderland.

Also bear in mind that most of our players are experienced and played in loads of massive matches and been to Wembley.
Where as Sunderland have plenty of young players and based on what we saw against Coventry, still look to be out of form.

 

[McGrath]

I’ve seen it mentioned a few times by Sunderland and United fans that the league games during the season were both close affairs…..with Sunderland causing us problems.
However the last match that was played 1st Jan was at a time we had horrendous injuries and it was before the January transfer window.
Also let’s not forget, our main man Harry Souter had just got injured, so our defence was just finding it’s feet trying to deal with the massive loss of Souter.

Take a look at the team that played up at the Stadium of Light

Cooper
Gilchrist - Ahmedhodzic - Robinson - McCallum
Peck - Davies
O’Hare- Brewster - Hamer
Moore

But take a look at how incredibly weak the subs bench was for that match
Norrington-Davies, Baptiste, Burrows, Brooks, Boyes, Blacker, One, Marsh.

Even with that weak team we had 66% possession up at their ground, more shots, more corners and their winner came from a freak defensive mistake.
Agree, altho Sunderland didn’t attack much, they did look dangerous with their quick counter attacks but we’ll be better prepared for that.

Now we will have Holding, Burrows, Sereki, Choudhury, Vini Souza, Rak Sakyi, Cannon and Campbell available.
Our subs bench was filled with several Academy players in the league match where as now it will be filled with top end Championship level players.

I’m sure Wilder will know this but I reckon the subs bench will be key
It will be demoralising for Sunderland knowing we will be able to bring on the likes of Sereki, O’Hare, Tom Davies, Brewster, Rak Sakyi, Holding and Cannon from the bench. These are all players who would easily make the 1st 11 of almost every other Championship club.

It’s the later stages of the match and maybe in extra time where we will have a massive advantage…where Sunderland simply can’t compete.

Not forgetting Moore played with a sickness bug and a hernia

Sunderland were good at Bramall Lane though.

 

[Iffy Onuora's Shiny Head]

It will be key for who can handle the day better.

Sunderland have been out of the Top flight for a long time, and this makes the game their biggest in near 10 years. Players and Fans will be high on adrenanline, but also probably nerves.

Given our recent 'Yo Yo' status and x2 poor premier league seasons, we probably aren't as 'desperate for promotion' as they are, which could lead to cooler and more composed heads.

I also think there will be a pyschological impact on how they play/set up tactically based on how we so confidently beat Bristol City. Again this could be both a benefit and a hinderence.

 

[Tony_Kaufman]

We're actually going into them off the back of good form for a change with no off field distractions, dramas, no injuries to worry about etc. Pretty much the opposite of every other time. The only thing that can screw this up for me is a player getting sent off ala Burnley Final.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Not forgetting Moore played with a sickness bug and a hernia

Sunderland were good at Bramall Lane though.

Agree they were very impressive but only for about 20 minutes (10 minutes just before half time and 10 minutes just after half time)
Where as we finished strongly and were easily the best team in the last 20 minutes just about deserving our winner.

Both league games revolved around penalty saves…..to be honest….both matches should have ended up as draws.

My point is (and it’s not been mentioned previously) that we have a vastly stronger squad compared to our squad that played in the league matches.
In fact I’d say the current subs bench is the highest quality we’ve had in our entire history…..much better than last years subs bench in the Premier league.

 

[McGrath]

Agree they were very impressive but only for about 20 minutes (10 minutes just before half time and 10 minutes just after half time)
Where as we finished strongly and were easily the best team in the last 20 minutes just about deserving our winner.

Both league games revolved around penalty saves…..to be honest….both matches should have ended up as draws.

My point is (and it’s not been mentioned previously) that we have a vastly stronger squad compared to our squad that played in the league matches.
In fact I’d say the current subs bench is the highest quality we’ve had in our entire history…..much better than last years subs bench in the Premier league.

Yes agreed. But let's not underestimate them.

 

[Sheffsteel]

It will be key for who can handle the day better.

Sunderland have been out of the Top flight for a long time, and this makes the game their biggest in near 10 years. Players and Fans will be high on adrenanline, but also probably nerves.

Given our recent 'Yo Yo' status and x2 poor premier league seasons, we probably aren't as 'desperate for promotion' as they are, which could lead to cooler and more composed heads.

I also think there will be a pyschological impact on how they play/set up tactically based on how we so confidently beat Bristol City. Again this could be both a benefit and a hinderence.

In the match at the SOL I was surprised to see how negative Sunderland were…..in fact the Sunderland v Coventry match was similar to our match there.
We are good against teams that attack us……we then have space and good at counter attacks.

However Sunderland saw a weakness..,….in that their strikers are quicker than our defenders.
So it looked like they deliberately gave up possession and invited our defence to push up to the half way line.
Although we had a lot of attacks, Sunderland defended well and we didn’t threaten enough. Where as Sunderland didn’t attack much but looked more dangerous.

Suspect Le Bris will try to use similar tactics and sit back inviting us to attack because they identified a weakness.
However no doubt Wilder will be better prepared, also let’s not forget..the only reason they won was due to a fluke blunder from Robinson.

My only fear relates to the 1st goal.

We’ve seen it several times this season….when we score the first goal……we tend to play with confidence and win.
Where as when we concede first…confidence seems to drain away…like there’s a mental issue. Also the nerves/ negativity in our crowd could be significant too.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Yes agreed. But let's not underestimate them.

Don’t think we will because they were (like Bristol City) very good against us in both league matches.

 

[Tezza1889]

We definitely won't under estimate them, but hopefully we won't show them too much respect either..

Sunderland are well liked, a proper club, nice colours on the kit etc, but we need to beat somebody at Wembley and it's about time we turned up in a major game..

The best team on the day will win, hopefully we play our best game of the season that day.

Lady luck needs to smile on us just once..

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

One thing I am confident about is that we won't fail to turn up as in seasons past.

Partly just the Wilder factor, how he's pulled these players together into a team that fights for each other. You feel some of his love for the club has rubbed off on them.

But in particular that ritual of having Baldock's shirt in the dressing room for every match - even though most of these lads never played with him, they've all bought in to the "win it for George" mentality. They'll be fired up for this one and I'm confident that even if we fail we will at least have given it a proper go for once.

 

[DifferentClass]

FFS, it's Souttar!

 

[Balham]

We're actually going into them off the back of good form for a change with no off field distractions, dramas, no injuries to worry about etc. Pretty much the opposite of every other time. The only thing that can screw this up for me is a player getting sent off ala Burnley Final.

I'm not sure we had any tactical plans in 2009 beyond hoofing it in the general direction of Craig Beattie. We were a disjointed and ill-disciplined rabble. This season feels very different with a clear play-off tactical identity (4-4-fucking-2) and a squad playing for each other and all pulling in the same direction.

Agree they were very impressive but only for about 20 minutes (10 minutes just before half time and 10 minutes just after half time)
Where as we finished strongly and were easily the best team in the last 20 minutes just about deserving our winner.

Both league games revolved around penalty saves…..to be honest….both matches should have ended up as draws.

My point is (and it’s not been mentioned previously) that we have a vastly stronger squad compared to our squad that played in the league matches.
In fact I’d say the current subs bench is the highest quality we’ve had in our entire history…..much better than last years subs bench in the Premier league.

The same could be said for the games against Bristol City. At Ashton Gate we clawed our way back from 1-0 down to win with virtually the last kick and at the Lane it was the other way around as we were pegged back in injury time. However, both those games finished pretty level on the xG stats with City slightly ahead by virtue of having one huge chance (away: 1.2-1.5 inc 0.75 for the penalty; home 1.4-1.5 inc 0.49* for Sinclair's header). Look what then happened in the play-offs: we professionally battered City twice with the 2.6xG in the away leg our best away performance and joint second overall this season (behind 3.6 vs Oxford and level with 2.6 vs Middlesbrough).

It's a weird feeling going into a Wembley match but for the first time I'm confident rather than hopeful that we'll a) play well and b) win. Every other time I've hoped we'd win but expected it to be a slog.

 

[BalticBlade]

Not forgetting Moore played with a sickness bug and a hernia

Sunderland were good at Bramall Lane though.

They were, but that was back in November. Some of our better performances this season have been in recent weeks, not sure the same can be said for them.

 

[McGrath]

They were, but that was back in November. Some of our better performances this season have been in recent weeks, not sure the same can be said for them.

Some of our worst performances of the season have come in recent weeks too

 

[Sheffsteel]

We definitely won't under estimate them, but hopefully we won't show them too much respect either..

Sunderland are well liked, a proper club, nice colours on the kit etc, but we need to beat somebody at Wembley and it's about time we turned up in a major game..

The best team on the day will win, hopefully we play our best game of the season that day.

Lady luck needs to smile on us just once..

Agree we definitely won’t under estimate them, they have quick strikers who can cause Robinson and Ahmedhodzic problems on the break.
I know Sunderland are out of form but they have talented young players and it they click they are an excellent side.

However as daft as it sounds I’d rather play Sunderland because our players will be more focussed and our fans won’t be so cocky.
I really think if we’d played Coventry….all our fans would be arrogant repeating how we outclassed them only a few weeks ago.
Also there would be a lot of agro in social media between the SU and Cov fans, at least regards Sunderland there’s more respect amongst the supporters.

If we played Cov in the final Lampard would then have a right of reply, check the match video, study why they were outclassed a few weeks, learn from his mistakes and come up with new tactics. So they would have the element of surprise and we would be under more pressure due to being massive favourites.

Where as against Sunderland it’s us that will have the element of surprise, we have several players who didn’t play in the league matches
And we will be preparing for and expecting Sunderland to find some form and play their best, like in the league matches.

PS: Forgot to add…..we’ll also have Bereton-Diaz on the bench too. Our bench is guaranteed to be frighteningly good giving us a big advantage.

 

[ancientblade]

im confident we will beat them keep mayenda quiet and they havent got a lot of threat for me if we play to our capabilities im sure we will be too good for them

 

[Jon P]

Isidor hadn't scored a goal since February before his goal in the first leg

 

[ormester]

I’ve seen it mentioned a few times by Sunderland and United fans that the league games during the season were both close affairs…..with Sunderland causing us problems.
However the last match that was played 1st Jan was at a time we had horrendous injuries and it was before the January transfer window.
Also let’s not forget, our main man Harry Souter had just got injured, so our defence was just finding it’s feet trying to deal with the massive loss of Souter.

Take a look at the team that played up at the Stadium of Light

Cooper
Gilchrist - Ahmedhodzic - Robinson - McCallum
Peck - Davies
O’Hare- Brewster - Hamer
Moore

But take a look at how incredibly weak the subs bench was for that match
Norrington-Davies, Baptiste, Burrows, Brooks, Boyes, Blacker, One, Marsh.

Even with that weak team we had 66% possession up at their ground, more shots, more corners and their winner came from a freak defensive mistake.
Agree, altho Sunderland didn’t attack much, they did look dangerous with their quick counter attacks but we’ll be better prepared for that.

Now we will have Holding, Burrows, Sereki, Choudhury, Vini Souza, Rak Sakyi, Cannon and Campbell available.
Our subs bench was filled with several Academy players in the league match where as now it will be filled with top end Championship level players.

I’m sure Wilder will know this but I reckon the subs bench will be key
It will be demoralising for Sunderland knowing we will be able to bring on the likes of Sereki, O’Hare, Tom Davies, Brewster, Rak Sakyi, Holding and Cannon from the bench. These are all players who would easily make the 1st 11 of almost every other Championship club.

It’s the later stages of the match and maybe in extra time where we will have a massive advantage…where Sunderland simply can’t compete.

It’s a far stronger in depth side they will face

 

[Frank the tank]

Thing i remember about that game at sol is taht I'd basically accepted we would lose before kick off which is really unusual for me but I remember us being on our arses going into that game and I was pleasantly surprised how well we played

In the end the defeat didn't sting that much and I was just hoping we would get in the fresh legs I. The window we were so despatched for

None of this means anything I think we are two evenly matched teams but if we turn up and play we'll we will win

 

[Balham]

It’s a far stronger in depth side they will face

Not to mention far fitter. We had loads on fumes or playing through injuries by New Year's Day (see: Tom Davies, Kieffer Moore).

 

[Northernsoulblade]

Here's the list of reasons why I'm confident;































































































































































.

The old invisible ink trick yer little tinker

 

[IOM Blade]

Sunderland look to be a shadow of the side from 3 months ago. They so nearly won at Leeds and Burnley, but now can't string 3 passes together.

 

[joe casey]

Our bench will be key - the confidence it must've given the team and fans the other night (and the oppsoite affect on the opposition) when we're bringing on Campbell, O'Hare, Brewster, Davies, Rak-Sakyi, all who could easily start. That's before considering the ones who weren't there like BBD. It's strength we've rarely seen all season.

 

[Cheeky Blade]

Nerves play a big part at Wembley, we’ve all seen that.

 

[Sheffsteel]

Our bench will be key - the confidence it must've given the team and fans the other night (and the oppsoite affect on the opposition) when we're bringing on Campbell, O'Hare, Brewster, Davies, Rak-Sakyi, all who could easily start. That's before considering the ones who weren't there like BBD. It's strength we've rarely seen all season.

Yeh it’s a massive factor and you’ve also forgot Femi Sereki who terrified them and changed the game when he came on as sub in the home league game.
He was out injured (with about 7 others) for the league game at the stadium of light.

You only need to look at our subs bench for that game at the SOL, probably our weakest subs bench of the season.
Norrington- Davies, Baptiste, Brooks, Burrows, Blacker, Boyes, One and Marsh.
Most of them are under 23 Academy players who aren’t anywhere near the subs bench never mind the 1st team.
2 of our most important players Vini Souza and Tyrese Campbell were out injured and didn’t play, those 2 make a massive difference to us.

 

[MayorOJC]

Reason to be confident (but not underestimate)

 

[ATL Recs]

I’ve seen it mentioned a few times by Sunderland and United fans that the league games during the season were both close affairs…..with Sunderland causing us problems.
However the last match that was played 1st Jan was at a time we had horrendous injuries and it was before the January transfer window.
Also let’s not forget, our main man Harry Souter had just got injured, so our defence was just finding it’s feet trying to deal with the massive loss of Souter.

Take a look at the team that played up at the Stadium of Light

Cooper
Gilchrist - Ahmedhodzic - Robinson - McCallum
Peck - Davies
O’Hare- Brewster - Hamer
Moore

But take a look at how incredibly weak the subs bench was for that match
Norrington-Davies, Baptiste, Burrows, Brooks, Boyes, Blacker, One, Marsh.

Even with that weak team we had 66% possession up at their ground, more shots, more corners and their winner came from a freak defensive mistake.
Agree, altho Sunderland didn’t attack much, they did look dangerous with their quick counter attacks but we’ll be better prepared for that.

Now we will have Holding, Burrows, Sereki, Choudhury, Vini Souza, Rak Sakyi, Cannon and Campbell available.
Our subs bench was filled with several Academy players in the league match where as now it will be filled with top end Championship level players.

I’m sure Wilder will know this but I reckon the subs bench will be key
It will be demoralising for Sunderland knowing we will be able to bring on the likes of Sereki, O’Hare, Tom Davies, Brewster, Rak Sakyi, Holding and Cannon from the bench. These are all players who would easily make the 1st 11 of almost every other Championship club.

It’s the later stages of the match and maybe in extra time where we will have a massive advantage…where Sunderland simply can’t compete.

i thought it was last night extra time that they showed they can compete and are a fit prepared group