Everything Gary Neville has said about Sunderland will leave fans ecstatic with Regis Le Bris
Gary Neville has echoed what all Sunderland fans must be thinking after the 2-2 draw to Arsenal on Saturday.
Brian Brobbey’s 94th-minute equaliser sent the supporters into pandemonium as they claimed a hard-fought, deserved point against the league leaders at the Stadium of Light.
Dan Ballard’s early goal was cancelled out by second-half strikes from Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard, but there was always a feeling that there would be one last twist in the match.
Regis Le Bris has done an excellent job with the Black Cats, and few could believe that they’d be sitting fourth in the Premier League table after 11 games.
Sunderland are gaining all the plaudits for their fantastic start to the season, and Gary Neville has highlighted that their success is hinged on their defensive style of play.
Sunderland have learnt from other failures in the Premier League
Ballard’s excellent half-volley came from a long ball pumped forward, and throughout the match, Sunderland were happy to let the visitors have the lion’s share of the ball.
Speaking on The Gary Neville Podcast on 9 November, the former Man United defender highlighted how Sunderland aren’t feeling pressured to play expansive football from out of defence.
He said: “Sunderland have the right sort of principles of a team coming up, being hard to beat, being physical.
“We’ve seen some right nonsense in the last few years from teams coming up who have tried to play out of the back. It’s impossible to do that as a newly promoted team.
“I love watching their pragmatic style, I admire it, and it’s clearly more effective than what we’ve seen in previous years.”
| Stat | Sunderland |
| Wins | 5 |
| Draws | 4 |
| Losses | 2 |
| Points | 19 |
| Premier League position | 4th |
Sunderland are looking to become the first newly promoted team to achieve Premier League survival since Fulham, Bournemouth, and Nottingham Forest achieved it in 2022-23.
With 19 points from their first 11 matches, they’ve accumulated roughly half of the points they need to avoid relegation.
Burnley’s 2023-24 side is a great example of a team that tried to play out from the back under Vincent Kompany, yet they were constantly picked apart by teams with much more quality.
Sunderland have picked their moments to be expansive, and the style of play in the results against Chelsea and Arsenal has hugely contrasted the matches against West Ham and Wolves.
Barring Sunderland’s 2-0 defeat to Burnley, they have done an excellent job of taking points off sides that they were expected to compete with at the start of the season.
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Sunderland’s ability to dominate bottom-half teams has proved to be crucial
Le Bris has coached several impressive displays this season, and it’s his adaptability that should get the most praise.
Sunderland started the season with a standard 4-3-3 formation, but Habib Diarra’s injury gave him the option to change to a 5-4-1.
Whilst they’ve surrendered possession to the bigger teams, Sunderland had 54 per cent possession in the 2-1 win over Brentford.
Developments over the course of the season, whether that be AFCON or any serious injuries, will certainly change the way Sunderland approach games.
Luckily for the fans, they have a manager in Le Bris who seems to get results when all the chips are stacked against him.
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