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Player ratings as Sunderland stink out the John Smith's Stadium

It probably wasn't a case of who impressed and who didn't for Sunderland at Huddersfield - and more a case of who unimpressed the least.

Author:
Michael Graham
Publish date:
Feb 14, 2024 4:41 PM EST

Sunderland fell to an incredibly poor 1-0 defeat to Huddersfield at the John Smith's Stadium.

After the promise of recent weeks, it was a humbling return to reality for Sunderland and head coach Michael Beale.

Did anyone impress for the Black Cats or was it just bad all-round? Here are your player ratings.

Sunderland player ratings vs Huddersfield (4-3-3)

GK: Anthony Patterson - Will probably be quite disappointed for his part in the goal, although there was plenty of blame to go around. Did okay after that though - 6

RB: Trai Hume - Not at his best by any means, although not helped by a bit of a tactical mess ahead of him on that right-hand side - 6

CB: Luke O’Nien - No Shortage of desire, as usual, but there was a shortage of dominance. 6

CB: Dan Ballard - Definitely below the level we have come to expect from him - 6

LB: Leo Hjelde - Some good things, some bac thing. The latter was some sloppy play in how the free kick from which Huddersfield scored was conceded. Little surprise when he was withdrawn on the hour - 4

CM: Dan Neil - Tried to drive the team forward, but too much ponderous play around him to be effective - 6

CM: Pierre Ekwah - Got himself into some good forward positions, but didn't really influence the game - 5

CM: Jobe Bellingham - Back to showing his worst. Too many touches, a bit too slow, just very ineffective. Good clearance off the line, but a complete mystery how he lasted the full 90 minutes without being hauled off - 4

RW: Abdoullah Ba - Got him down as playing on the right, but god knows what they actual plan was for him. Only lasted an hour, but don't think Beale did him any favours tactically - 6

CF: Nazariy Rusyn - Made some nice runs but was rarely used. Pretty poor but, again, have to wonder whether it was really his fault - 5

LW: Jack Clarke – Nowhere near his best, but still the biggest threat by far - 6

Substitutes

Patrick Roberts (for Ba): Tried to make things happen but nothing really came off for him - 6

Timothee Pembele (for Hjelde): Definitely one of those defenders for whom actually defending appears to be considered optional - 5

Romaine Mundle (for Rusyn): Offered some encouragement. A rare bright point on a frankly deplorable night of football. Wasn't that bright either - 6

Mason Burstow (For Neil): If Mason Burstow is the answer, I don't really want to know what the question is. It's definitely not 'who do you want to see coming on when you need a goal?' though. That said, he did little wrong and actually created Sunderland's best chance - 6

Manager

Michael Beale - tough night for Sunderland head coach — IMAGO / PA Images

Michael Beale: I think, generally, when you can't figure out what a team is even trying to do tactically, you have to ask questions of the coach - 4

Referee

Gavin Ward: Definitely allowed the game to flow, which was good. No major errors either. The last of Sunderland's problems, sadly - 8