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John Wilson says…
Goodbye George
A fitting tribute to lifelong supporter George, both on 26 minutes and at half-time. I Couldn’t Get A Ticket For The Game. A lovely sentiment and tribute. Sunderland ‘Til I Die — never a truer word.
A bright star in a mostly mundane performance. His talent shone through when many others were uninspiring.
Slow Start
The crowd were up for the match, but for most of the first half the lads gave them nothing to shout about. If someone had told me it was a master plan to go 1-0 behind in that opening half — I would have believed them. We stood off and didn’t push, and showed them far too much respect. It was only my belief that RLB always has a plan that stopped me pulling what little hair I have left out! Very frustrating, and we should have been behind at the interval. It was good fortune mixed with some solid blocking which kept us in it.
Lack of Urgency
There was a peculiar lack of urgency for much of the game, which I couldn’t quite fathom. Even Roefs in goal seemed to take an age to release the ball or kick downfield. His distribution was much quicker at the start of the season. A great season it’s been, and no disgrace to lose to Liverpool, but I wished we’d shown more tonight. Disappointing.
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Liverpool’s Wataru Endo vies for possession with Sunderland’s Nilson Angulo during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on February 11, 2026 in Sunderland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images)
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Liverpool’s Wataru Endo vies for possession with Sunderland’s Nilson Angulo during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on February 11, 2026 in Sunderland, United Kingdom. (Photo by Alex Dodd - CameraSport via Getty Images)
CameraSport via Getty Images
Dan Harrison says…
Making his full debut tonight, Nilson Angulo took a little time to get settled but looked a real threat once he got going in the second half. The young winger looked a box of tricks and I counted three nutmegs from my perfect view in front of him during the second half.
Despite it coming to an end, to have waited until mid-February to leave my first home match after a loss is an outstanding achievement. On another day that header goes wide and we draw 0-0 against the current Champions. To have performed as well as we have at home is nothing short of spectacular and something we’ll look back on in the future as a real special run.
Asymmetrical system
Despite looking like some weeks it works well, when it doesn’t it makes our build-up look clunky and Hume’s positioning is great for a low-block but offers little in transition. With Oxford coming up a change back to traditional wingers might be a welcome breath of fresh air.
Alderete knock
With Alderete our only left-sided central defender, hearts will be in mouths that his injury isn’t too serious; however it might provide him with a much-needed break after a few weeks slightly off the boil. With Geertruida knocking on the door for a place we may see an opportunity for him to cement his name on the team sheet either at right-back or in the centre of defence going forward.
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Omar Alderete of Sunderland receives medical treatment during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on February 11, 2026 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 11: Omar Alderete of Sunderland receives medical treatment during the Premier League match between Sunderland and Liverpool at Stadium of Light on February 11, 2026 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Joseph Tulip says…
Bright start for Nilson
Our new signing showed flashes of his quality throughout. With a sure first touch, an eye for a pass and confident on the ball, Angulo made some skilful, driving runs at the Liverpool defence. An end product was lacking, but plenty of signs of good things to come from our new man.
Take the positives
Liverpool probably deserved their win given the chances they created, but we gave a good account of ourselves against the current English champions. Had we made better decisions in the final third, we would have been worthy of rescuing a point and maintaining our unbeaten home record. That record has now gone, but to lose it in mid-February against Liverpool is a remarkable achievement really.
Some big performances by some but not enough
I thought both Robin Roefs and Dan Ballard were fantastic in keeping Liverpool at bay; both were very commanding in their respective roles. However, a few of our Lads weren’t quite at their best. Trai Hume struggled defensively, Ronaldo showed his petulant side while Alderete’s dip in form continued. Could this be fatigue due to a lack of rotation and the number of games catching up with us?
A quieter SoL
We had over 47,000 in the ground on a cold, wet night, but for whatever reason, I felt the atmosphere was a bit quieter than it has been on previously this season. The late kick-off and the weather didn’t help, but I hope the SoL is bouncing again when we take on Fulham in our next home game.