Phil Smith discusses Sunderland's key challenge as part of his regular Q&A with readers
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00:00So, the first one here from Andrea, how do we get the momentum back?
00:05Which is something that I was kind of thinking about,
00:10because it's obviously, we talked a little bit about in recent weeks
00:13about how this is a unique situation really with Sunderland
00:15pretty much knowing their fate so far out from the season.
00:18It's quite common for a team to know they're going to be in the playoffs
00:20from three or four games out, and then you sort of have that debate
00:23about do you rest and rotate, do you try and just attack it
00:26with your best team to build some momentum?
00:28You know, to be so far out and be having this conversation
00:30is quite unusual for Sunderland.
00:32And in some ways, I think that's a bit of a positive.
00:34You know, in response to your question, Andrea,
00:36I think there is time to regain that momentum.
00:39I think there is still time to do what you need to do
00:41in terms of freshening the team up and still have three or four games
00:44at the end where you can really attack it with your,
00:46inverted commas, best team.
00:48I think that clearly, I think the main thing is going to be some recovery time.
00:52I think it's blatantly obvious that a lot of players in this team need a break.
00:55And so the international break is going to be a really important time for that.
00:58The concern with that is that a lot of players are going away
01:01on international duty.
01:02So you don't know how much rest these players are going to have.
01:06It's something I spoke about at the pre-match press conference
01:08with Ibris.
01:09And he said, you know, we have built really good relationships
01:12with these national teams, especially with the youth teams
01:14in terms of how we manage the minutes of these players.
01:16And he's hopeful that's something that will kind of continue to bear fruit
01:19and that these players will be looked after
01:21and they won't be sort of overplayed during the international break.
01:24So, yeah, I think rest and recovery is the most important thing.
01:27And the one positive is players like Daniel, Patrick Roberts,
01:30Luke09, Wilson Isidore.
01:33These players are going to get a proper break now,
01:35which could be really, really important.
01:36It's obvious on these videos, especially earlier in the season
01:40when Daniel was getting a bit of criticism, really defended him
01:43and then had a brilliant run of form.
01:45It's very rare for Daniel to come off 10 minutes into the second half.
01:48That tells you that he's just not at the level we know he's capable of.
01:51I think, you know, I'm quietly hopeful that a couple of weeks rest
01:54will make the difference for him.
01:55I think with some of the younger players going away on the national team,
01:58that's obviously a bit more of a concern because you don't know
02:00what level of rest they're going to get.
02:02Tricky one, that, because obviously the opportunity to go and play
02:05for your country is the absolute highest honour in football.
02:07So it's not an easy one for someone to manage.
02:09I think the other thing that I would say is that, you know,
02:12a couple of players back is going to make a big difference.
02:14I think the one positive that I'm clutching to,
02:17and hopefully I'm not being overly optimistic,
02:20is that Enzo Laffey, if he's not back for the Millwall game
02:22after the international break,
02:23he should definitely be back for the West Brom game.
02:25I'm hoping that will have a massive impact.
02:28You know, I think especially with Mundell and Watson,
02:30who again, they're going to have a couple of weeks more training now,
02:33which will hopefully benefit them.
02:34The opportunity to drop Laffey into midfield,
02:36which I think is a position where some of them
02:38are really struggling for energy at the moment,
02:40with the quality he's got, his willingness to take the ball,
02:43his ability to make things happen,
02:44the impact that will have on everyone really in terms of lifting the mood,
02:48I'm hopeful will make a difference.
02:49That's kind of the one positive I'm taking away from the game.
02:53So that's definitely, you know,
02:55something that I hope will make a difference after the international break.
02:57But I think the other thing is to try and increase the pool of players, really.
03:03You know, I thought it was really strict.
03:04I thought Alan Brown would start yesterday.
03:06I thought that against Cardiff,
03:08he had an excellent first half before Tyrone,
03:11which was unstandable because he hadn't played much football.
03:14So really surprised he hasn't started one of the last two games.
03:16I really thought he would come on at halftime.
03:18Yesterday, or at least in the first set of subs.
03:21Because to me, I just think his sort of bite and his energy
03:23and championship experience,
03:24it looks like something to cry out for a little bit in midfield.
03:28So I was really surprised he didn't come on until much later in the game.
03:31Then when he did, he came on on the right wing.
03:33I thought that was strange, to be honest.
03:35I think he's a player who thinks someone needs some new energy.
03:38They need someone who's really sort of got something to pray for
03:41and really eager to get on the pitch and make things happen.
03:44Laffey will do that.
03:45Nathalie Brown, someone else,
03:46is that I think someone will surely have to look at using a little bit more
03:50after the international break to try and just increase that energy,
03:53if you like, in midfield.
03:55So, yeah, hopefully I've answered that a little bit.
03:58I think there are some sort of...
04:02There should be some positives on the horizon
04:03in terms of the rest that players are getting
04:05and some players coming back from injury.
04:07But especially with injury on the field,
04:09I've said that all season.
04:10So we'll have to see how that develops.