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we started the game pressing way high up the pitch. Dewsbury-Hall played virtually alongside Barry and N’Diaye and Grealish (I think) had been told to push much further forward too.

And it worked - the goal was a moment of magic, but generally we completely unsettled Sunderland who were jittery and nervous. Their defence in particular, couldn’t cope with our pressure and gave the ball away in bad situations - we were probably unfortunate not to have scored a second.

Barry looked much better because he had players around him to play off (instead of being asked to win headers booted at him from 40 yards away).

It all went wrong once we settled back deeper and stopped pressing so high. Maybe (and I’m probably being generous) the manager told them at half time, to restart that press, but the equaliser came so quickly into the 2nd half that no pattern of play had emerged. It from there, we went to pieces tactically until the last 10 minutes.

Ultimately, from minute ~30 when we dropped much deeper, it became a masterclass in passive, cautious and dreadful game management. We were very fortunate not to concede a second when Sunderland had their really dominant 15 or so minutes.

We’d have taken a point before kick-off so I guess there’s no great damage done. But Premier League football is becoming more and more about how managers/coaches react to how the game plays out. 5 subs gives you a chance to replace half your outfield players and in doing so, react to tactical changes and/or opportunities you identify in-game. Swapping one isolated forward for the other and then waiting until the last 5-10 minutes to chuck on Alcaraz, really only demonstrates how stuck in the 2010’s Moyes is.