​IPSWICH, ENGLAND – AUGUST 22: Granit Xhaka of Sunderland arrives at the stadium before the Premier League 2026/27 match between Ipswich Town and Sunderland at Portman Road on August 22, 2026 in Ipswich, England. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images) | Getty Images We haven’t had to use the phrase ‘Typical Sunderland’ for a while now, but Saturday’s self-inflicted defeat at Portman Road falls firmly into that category, unfortunately.Of course, none of us like getting beat, and it’s ultra-frustrating when we gift-wrap the opposition two goals with two awful mistakes – the second of which allowed us no time at all to respond. Ipswich were there for the taking, and we gave the game to them.Positives? There weren’t that many come full-time, although going into the closing stages, I thought a draw was a dead cert, and if either team was going to win it, it would be us.It wasn’t to be, and hopefully this is a great reminder to the players that the Premier League is ruthless, and if we’re all not at it, we’ll suffer the consequences.I did feel the team looked sluggish and a bit off the pace, mentally and physically. Even watching on TV, the players didn’t seem to have that ‘bounce’ when it showed them walking into the ground before the game (hindsight’s wonderful, isn’t it?), we struggled to have that energy and determination that saw us through many games last season, and when the final whistle had blown, we’d paid the price.In some respects, it’s not surprising given the number of people who were at the World Cup and have only recently returned to the club. Two pre-season games simply isn’t enough, and Le Bris was pretty much forced to chuck Alderete into the second-half action as Luke was about to spontaneously combust. Needs must, but our favourite Paraguayan wasn’t anywhere near fit, although that doesn’t excuse his mistake either.Ballard looked slow and cumbersome – something’s not right there, he was miles off it. Xhaka seemed off the pace too, Talbi couldn’t get going, Brobbey missed chances he should have done better with, Sadiki faded after a bright opening and Angulo turned in an inconsistent hour – albeit punctuated by an exceptional free-kick. O’Nien looked fit enough, but a poor error knocked the stuffing out of him, and he struggled.Without making excuses, the World Cup hangover is real – we saw the evidence of it on Saturday – and we’ve not had the players back in training for too long. I had hoped that, given the lack of squad turnover, it wouldn’t impact us too much, but the sharpness wasn’t there. It felt like a mid-pre-season display in many respects, rather than the opener. Fitness to gain, sharpness to come, mistakes to iron out.But there’s nothing anyone can do about the Ipswich game now. Those 90+ minutes in the legs, however, will stand us in good stead – and it’s not as if we played badly. We were just a bit impotent. We dominated possession but didn’t do anyt