Steve Bruce is delighted at his side’s 0-0 stalemate with Manchester United but insists his men need to take their chances in order to progress.
Sunderland started the first half brightly and could have easily taken the lead if their finishing had been up to scratch.
“You’re always delighted to take something from them [Manchester United], I’ve been tried to beat them for 16 years. We even tried to sabotage the toilets but it didn’t work,” Bruce told reporters.
“It’s very difficult to pick out individuals especially against the top teams. On another day we could have won it but we needed to take those chances.”
Bruce singled out praise for Steed Malbranque, who in his new attacking midfield role, was at the heart of the majority of Sunderland’s attacking play.
“Steed thought he was offside [with his chance]. It’s a shame because his performance warranted a goal.
“He was terrific, he’s revelling in the new role we’ve created for him but so has the team. The team has responded.
“He’s clever, we know we can give him the ball in tight positions and we can retain the ball.
“He’s done his talking on the pitch. We’ve worked on our intensity and Steed’s benefitted from it.”
The Sunderland manager also revealed his opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson praised the Black Cats for their performance.
“He [Ferguson] was very complimentary and it’s always a great time to play one of the big teams, coming off the back of a Champions League tie midweek.”
“It’s a disappointment that we haven’t been able to win it but the pleasing thing for me, we’ve held our own, played well.”
“We’ve young, energetic and we have some good footballers.”
One concern Bruce has, however, is the limited number of players in his squad who can regularly find the net.
“We have to start contributing. [Darren]Bent and [Asamoah] Gyan are the only goal scorers in the team at the moment. We can’t keep relying on Bent.”
Bruce now has to prepare his side for their next match against Blackburn Rovers and with over a week to prepare, the Sunderland boos insists he will use the time wisely.
“You just hope that they come back alright. We’ve got a longer break than normal because we don’t play until a week on Monday and hopefully that’ll help us in terms of recovery,” he said.
Sunderland started the first half brightly and could have easily taken the lead if their finishing had been up to scratch.
“You’re always delighted to take something from them [Manchester United], I’ve been tried to beat them for 16 years. We even tried to sabotage the toilets but it didn’t work,” Bruce told reporters.
“It’s very difficult to pick out individuals especially against the top teams. On another day we could have won it but we needed to take those chances.”
Bruce singled out praise for Steed Malbranque, who in his new attacking midfield role, was at the heart of the majority of Sunderland’s attacking play.
“Steed thought he was offside [with his chance]. It’s a shame because his performance warranted a goal.
“He was terrific, he’s revelling in the new role we’ve created for him but so has the team. The team has responded.
“He’s clever, we know we can give him the ball in tight positions and we can retain the ball.
“He’s done his talking on the pitch. We’ve worked on our intensity and Steed’s benefitted from it.”
The Sunderland manager also revealed his opposite number Sir Alex Ferguson praised the Black Cats for their performance.
“He [Ferguson] was very complimentary and it’s always a great time to play one of the big teams, coming off the back of a Champions League tie midweek.”
“It’s a disappointment that we haven’t been able to win it but the pleasing thing for me, we’ve held our own, played well.”
“We’ve young, energetic and we have some good footballers.”
One concern Bruce has, however, is the limited number of players in his squad who can regularly find the net.
“We have to start contributing. [Darren]Bent and [Asamoah] Gyan are the only goal scorers in the team at the moment. We can’t keep relying on Bent.”
Bruce now has to prepare his side for their next match against Blackburn Rovers and with over a week to prepare, the Sunderland boos insists he will use the time wisely.
“You just hope that they come back alright. We’ve got a longer break than normal because we don’t play until a week on Monday and hopefully that’ll help us in terms of recovery,” he said.
Sunderland Manager Steve Bruce Happy With A Point Against Manchester United
![Sunderland Manager Steve Bruce Happy With A Point Against Manchester United]()
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