Sunderland kicked off their pre-season tour of North America with a disappointing 1-0 loss to Sacramento Republic. Although confident and comfortable in possession for 45 minutes, their second half display was lacklustre, resulting in a 58th minute winner from Cameron Iwasa (sign him up). Although a largely meaningless friendly in the grand scheme of things, there are lessons to be learned from the match, however underwhelming the final result may have been. Dick Advocaat utilised 16 players over the course of the game, most of whom will be expected to feature prominently this season. Youngsters Tom Beadling and Duncan Watmore were given a run-out alongside more regular members of the senior squad, while Emmanuele Giaccherini was again given a key central midfield role after scoring twice in the previous friendly with Darlington. Fans also got a chance to see the first of Sunderland's new signings in action, 23 year old Welsh international Adam Matthews starting at right back. The ex-Celtic man will be certainly hoping to get plenty more games under his belt over the course of the upcoming Premier League campaign. Here are seven things to take away from Tuesday night's game, and what such lessons could mean for the season ahead.
