7 Things Learned From Sunderland's 1-0 Loss To Sacramento Republic

2. Advocaat Is Still Prioritising Fitness Over Results

Although the game must go down as a disappointing one for Sunderland, it has predictably not resulted in serious pessimism among fans. There appears to be a general acknowledgement that pre-season is for fitness and team bonding rather than results, and although it would have been nice to win the game, it's hardly the end of the world for Dick Advocaat's men. Such an outlook seems to be shared by the manager himself, who made no attempt to mask a lack of squad depth - at one point moving Jack Rodwell and Liam Bridcutt to full back berths - and instead concentrated on improving the squad's general match fitness.