Mike Dodds deserves big credit for Sunderland tactical shift that ended 'soft goals' problem

Sunderland made it five clean sheets from their last six outings with their 1-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion at The Hawthorns at the weekend, and Mike Dodds deserves credit for steadying the ship.

The Black Cats interim head coach has made the team 'harder to play against’, especially after the humiliating 5-1 hammering at the hands of Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday. Given the calibre of opposition in the last two fixtures - promotion-hopefuls Leeds and West Brom - Dodds has opted to set Sunderland up with three centre-halves in the shape of Trai Hume, Dan Ballard and skipper Luke O’Nien, with wing-backs in Timothee Pembele on the right and January loan recruit Callum Styles on the left..

Some Sunderland fans have dubbed the change in formation as a negative, especially compared to the free-flowing attacking football under former boss Tony Mowbray. But this is a very different Black Cats side to the one which moved into the play-offs this time last year with another win at the Hawthorns, capped then by Dennis Cirkin's deft finish following a flowing move.

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The tactical tweak from Dodds has resulted in picking up four points from a possible six against two of the best sides in the division. A more pragmatic and defensive approach is not as easy on the eye, but still has put points on the board.

To highlight just how steady the backline has been of late, Sunderland reduced West Brom to a measly 0.29xG (expected goals) and title-chasing Leeds to only 0.55 xG. Reducing the likelihood of conceding, which has been a persistent thorn in the Black Cats' side this season, has tipped the scales towards results rather than performance. The interim boss did admit after the game that the performance was nothing like the free-flowing football in the aforementioned Baggies trip last term, but rightfully argued his side - besides the Blackburn blip - are ‘looking a really hard team to play against’.

“I don’t think it was a free-flowing performance, I thought it was really professional," Dodds said. "It’s trying to get that balance with performance and results, it’s a results-based industry.

“We want to be a little bit more fluid in possession of the ball, but out of possession I can’t criticise them. I think they execute everything we want from them and we look like a really hard team to play against. I think if that is your foundation moving forward, you give yourself a real chance.”

Whoever the next Sunderland head coach is, Dodds has laid some solid foundations with the improvement of the backline, and if they can maintain this bedrock while shifting the dial more back towards their fluid, attacking best, then there will be cause for quiet optimism ahead of the coming campaign.