Mike Dodds is still no nearer to picking up his first points back as Sunderland interim boss, his dejected Black Cats side falling to another Championship defeat under his disappointing short-term tenure to date away at Southampton.
Sunderland did show signs of their quality in the clash at St. Mary’s, going toe-to-toe with Russell Martin’s promotion-chasing Saints at points, but the final scoreline would swing in favour of the South Coast hosts 4-2 regardless of Sunderland flickering into life occasionally.
Abdoullah Ba had a horrid day at the office when examining the many underperformers from a Black Cats perspective, another performance for the French midfielder to look back on as a low point from an underwhelming season in truth for the 20-year-old.
Abdoullah Ba’s performance vs Southampton in numbers
Dodds ultimately made the wrong decision bringing Ba back into the XI for this clash away at Southampton, with the Sunderland number 17 struggling throughout.
It shows that the interim boss is still unsure over what his best lineup truly is, the 37-year-old head coach scrambling around to try and put together a side that can pull off a win after experiencing four defeats on the trot since taking over the reins from the disastrous Michael Beale.
|
Dodds’ record as interim manager since Beale’s sacking |
|
|---|---|
|
Match and comp |
Result |
|
Southampton v Sunderland – Championship |
4-2 loss |
|
Sunderland v Leicester City – Championship |
1-0 loss |
|
Norwich City v Sunderland – Championship |
1-0 loss |
|
Sunderland v Swansea City – Championship |
2-1 loss |
|
Sourced by Transfermarkt |
|
He could rest a little easier over his next team selection when viewing Ba’s torrid afternoon against the Saints however, the out-of-sorts winger completed fewer accurate passes than Sunderland goalkeeper Anthony Patterson across the 90 minutes – Ba completing just 12 passes, compared to Patterson’s slightly higher 14.
Moreover, Ba would fail to register a single accurate dribble attempt at St. Mary’s despite attempting five weaving runs alongside winning just two of his 14 duels in the game.
Sunderland Echo journalist Phil Smith was unsurprisingly not very complimentary about the below-par midfielder’s performance in his post-match thoughts – dishing out a 4/10 match rating to Ba, stating that the Frenchman ‘didn’t look comfortable’ down the left flank against Martin’s side.
Unfortunately for Ba, this isn’t a performance entirely in isolation and is in-keeping with his season so far for Sunderland with the young midfielder putting in more abject displays than promising ones recently.
Abdoullah Ba’s season in numbers
Ba is arguably another player at the Stadium of Light who has been thrown into the first-team spotlight too soon, with his equally inexperienced teammates Mason Burstow and Jenson Seelt, who are both 20 years of age, struggling too in the deep end of the Championship this campaign.
The promising midfielder has shown signs of why he has been thrust into the senior fold by the likes of Beale and Mowbray alongside Dodds in the present – starring against Stoke City in late January with a goal and an assist tallied up in the 3-1 win – but he has been a notable underperformer in Sunderland’s demise down the division.
In Dodds’ first game back in the interim hot seat against Swansea City, Ba would lackadaisically give away possession 11 times in total playing behind Nazariy Rusyn who was desperate for some service.
On top of that, the French creator would be flagged for offside twice even when he had broken through to try and punish the Swans.
Dodds will really have to assess what players deserve to stick in his starting lineups, with Ba sweating that he could be dropped to the bench again for Sunderland’s next match versus Queens Park Rangers.
