Talking Points: Early signs of Régis Le Bris’ influence — and are performances important?
He’s only been in the job two weeks, but what were the early signs that Régis Le Bris is having an influence on this Sunderland squad?
Well, in the first game it was immediately clear that we’d been asked to press high as a unit, something we were told RLB likes from his teams, and it was our high pressing that led to at least four of the five goals at South Shields.
That was probably the best opening pre-season performance that I can
remember, actually. It might have made for a better spectacle if South Shields had been more competitive, but our midfield was simply too good and by half time, the game was over.
High pressing, lots of control, lots of goals – could these be the hallmarks of Régis LE bRIS’ Sunderland side? I guess that time will tell, but the early signs are promising… even if the performance at Gateshead wasn’t quite at the same level.
The return of the walking wounded
The result and performance at Gateshead doesn’t look quite as great as the one earlier in the day, but I think it’s important to remember that this is pre-
season… and that most of the players who started the game were injured at the end of the last campaign.
It was Elliot Embleton’s first Sunderland appearance since 2022, Dennis Cirkin’s first since time began, Jewi’s first since he was sent to Greece, Jay Matete’s first since he got lost down the back of the sofa and the first sighting of Naz Rusyn since he was spotted doing his shopping in Jackie Whites Market.
Gateshead however looked sharp and you could tell they’ve already played this
month, so I won’t read too much into it. Hopefully the lads who have come off the back of decent spells out through injury got through it unscathed and will get another crack at impressing their new boss in Spain next week.
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