This summer was meant to be the one when the Black Cats drafted in a raft of willing learners to be re-educated in the Paolo way of playing. The season is little more than a month old and already the masterplan has been not abandoned, but certainly mothballed. Lee Cattermole is back in the fold and whether he is in it or not, the team that runs out at West Bromwich Albion this afternoon will be operating along different lines. The reason? It seems director of football Roberto De Fanti has been unable to supply his Italian coach with the players to fit his tactics. âAt this moment probably we canât play completely like I expected and like I prepared in pre-season â start from the back, two full-backs forward and open, wingers open and forward, and stay with one player in the middle of the field who can get the ball,â explains Di Canio. âI couldnât change after one game, two games because you prepare for two months this way to play. But once I discovered the first time we lose the ball we have a difficulty, it means that, I donât say Iâve made a mistake, but I have to see what I can do to change a bit. âWe werenât too open, it was the way we wanted to play. Itâs clear that we should have ability, quality in the middle of the field. Two real playmakers, it was always this plan. âBut I tried to play one playmaker who was more aggressive but does not have as much ability, so once the ball arrived into this guy he maybe tried to play like I asked, but that is not his ability. âObviously I knew this before but I wanted to give confidence to those people. I donât expect Craig Gardner to become Scott Parker or Tom Huddlestone (two players Di Canio wanted in the summer) or (Sung-Yong) Ki (who Sunderland did sign). But we still donât know each other or know when to attack the space in the middle of the field. âIt doesnât mean that I change completely our way to play, but do more simple things in some ways a bit more. So have I made a mistake? No. But I can see what we did and we can change a bit. Itâs not the playersâ mistake either. Itâs just something that in this moment is not possible. âProbably we can start again once we have got two or three wins and are sixth from bottom. We can start again because their memory is there and they have practised for two months. âBut I have delivered a very good job already because the lads are doing well. Without some silly mistakes, we probably could have had more points.â It is clearly eating away at Di Canio. Those who misguidedly take notice of the league table at this time of year will find Sunderland in last place. âWe donât deserve to be at the bottom if you look at performances,â Di Canio insists. âIn all four of our games there has been something. We have to improve for sure, keep the ball and defend better. âWe still only have one point so it is difficult, but if I didnât lose the games in the manner we have been I would say, âThere are many other problemsâ. But we have nearly got something more so this is why I am not worried. âWe have bought 14 new players and seven of those arrived in the last 10, 15, 20 days, and then there was an international break. âThey have good quality, but with all respect it is just normal quality, and they have to gel together. So I am not worried. âIf you are telling me West Brom is crucial, of course. Liverpool is crucial, Manchester United is crucial. Tough fixtures. âBut if we can get something from those three games we will be okay because after those games there is an international break. Then you can see the real team because then our players have played four or five matches together. Now it is early. âEven if I had 14 players in pre-season since the first day it would have been difficult.â
