Former Sunderland captain Lee Cattermole has criticised his old club’s style of play under new boss Michael Beale, following Sunday afternoon’s late draw with Middlesbrough.
The Black Cats were on the cusp of a fifth defeat in just nine matches under the ex-Queens Park Rangers manager at the weekend, having conceded to Boro just after the hour mark through a Marcus Forss strike. However, Nazariy Rusyn’s half-volley seven minutes from time rescued a point for the club in the Tees-Wear derby.
Speaking on punditry for Sky Sports after the game, Cattermole, who played for both sides throughout his career, admitted that Sunderland’s brand of football under Beale is “robotic” compared to Tony Mowbray’s stint in charge [quotes via Sunderland Nation]:
“I think everyone expected when Mowbray went that they were going to go probably foreign. I know Will Still was mentioned a bit and that got the fans quite excited.
“The appointment of Beale: I don’t think the form has really changed. I think the style of play has changed a little bit.
“I went to the Hull game at home and Sunderland could have won on the night very comfortably, but the style of play was very robotic. They played in front a lot and they didn’t get in behind. One thing Tony did do was get the team attacking really well.”
Sunderland have now picked up just one victory in their previous four league outings but remain merely one point behind the final automatic playoff place, currently occupied by Hull City, with some winnable fixtures on the near horizon against Plymouth Argyle, Huddersfield Town, Birmingham City and Swansea City.
Cattermole has backed Beale to be up to the task of proving himself as manager of the Wearside club despite a rocky start to his tenure at the Stadium of Light.
“I think it is like any job, whether you are a player or a manager, you have to prove yourself all of the time. Beale will be up to that. He has been at Rangers. He has been at QPR and he has been with Steven Gerrard a lot.”
READ ALSO; ‘It’s my understanding’: The Esk shares when Everton are likely to get the results of their appeal
