TAKEAWAYS: LEEDS UNITED

Sunderland played the second of their three games in the US in the early hours of this morning, losing 1-0 to Leeds in New Jersey. Here are a few takeaways from the game for those who didn’t stay up and watch it.

No Isidor

Surprisingly Wilson Isidor was absent from the game at the Sports Illustrated Stadium. It has yet to be confirmed whether this is due to an injury or a possible exit but I find it rather odd that we have not had any confirmation from Le Bris or even any sort of leaks as to why he did not play.

It saw Brian Brobbey start but he was replaced by Timur Tutierov 37 minutes into the game, seemingly a planned substitution. Given that other World Cup returning players, such as Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki, came on in the 63^rd minute it does make you wonder if the plan was for Brobbey to do the same but a late Isidor injury meant he had to start the game.

Tutierov impresses again

Timur Tutierov was once again a standout as he continues to take his opportunity to impress in pre-season. Having scored in the first two games he again looked lively, impressing with his link up play in what seemed like a more central role. I do think Timur could be in for some minutes throughout the season, especially given the number of games we will be playing this season.

Ellborg criticism

Lukas Nmecha scored the only goal of the game, with Enzo Le Fee losing the ball cheaply before the German’s long-range strike caught Ellborg out who seemed to lose his footing as he back tracked to the goal line. After a shaky display against Liverpool many have seen the chance to jump on the Swede’s back again, with many questioning why he was off his line in the first place.

Personally, I think its more Le Fee’s fault than Ellborg’s. In modern day football, keepers tend to start with a high line to put themselves in a good position to potentially come out and sweep. Le Fee loses the ball in a poor position which means Ellborg needs to back track and rather unfortunately he has tripped and made it look maybe worse than it was.

I do think people seem to have quickly forgotten about the fact he was relatively solid when he came into the side last season and many seem to jump on him because he is not as good as Roefs which I think is harsh. Judging your back up keeper because he is not on the same level as one of the best keepers in the league seems a bit daft really, he is our back up and is still young.

Adingra looking bright

Simon Adingra’s future on Wearside seems fairly up in the air but he impressed on his return to the side after arriving. He played on the right and looked dangerous cutting in on his left after coming on for the last half an hour. I do still feel its unlikely Simon will be here come the closure of the window, but after our struggles out wide last year a run of good performances in our remaining pre-season games certainly could change that.

Conclusion

Thankfully there has not been a massive overreaction to last night’s result with a lot of our usual starting players just returning after their late return from the World Cup. I think many will be hoping we see some movement on the transfer front in the next week or so though, with the season just over three weeks away.