Sunderland fell to a crushing defeat late on against Leeds United on Monday night, and fans have put all the blame squarely on one man’s shoulders.
The Black Cats were dominated almost from start to finish by the home side in this Championship clash of the titans at Elland Road.
However, it was Sunderland who took the lead entirely against the run of play in the first half thanks to a superb turn and finish from Wilson Isidor.
Sadly, after the interval Leeds turned on the style and punished Sunderland with two goals from Pascal Struijk, including an injury time winner, and it’s got Black Cats fans raging.
Sunderland fans question Regis Le Bris’ tactics vs Leeds
Simply put, Sunderland fans are not happy with Regis Le Bris for the way he set up his team in the second half of the game at Elland Road, with a particular disappointment stemming from the substitutes the Frenchman made.
Taking to Twitter/X to voice their discontent, one fan wrote: “On the manager that – should take all the blame. Watched the second half fall away and made no changes, very poor.”
Another supporter added: “Got that second half so wrong. Lost any attacking output and just invited pressure. Bizarre.”
Some even suggested Sunderland were unworthy of winning anyway, with one Black Cats supporter saying, “Deserved that for being so negative that second half, embarrassing.”
As for the substitutions Le Bris made, fans have said the changes came “far too late” and that the personnel involved made them “some of the worst substitution decisions” the Sunderland manager could have made, leading to the Mackems “throwing away the game.”
Unfortunately, it seems one player in particular has become the scapegoat as a result of those decisions from Le Bris, with Salis Abdul Samed getting plenty of stick.
One fan wrote, “Never want to see Samed put on the Sunderland shirt again,” while another described the idea of putting him in a more attacking role in replacing Chris Rigg was “baffling.”
Salis Abdul Samed’s Sunderland career surely in jeopardy
We suggested before the game that playing Samed here would be a mistake, and unfortunately, we were proven right.
The midfielder is too defensive-minded and nowhere near dynamic enough to handle the quality and athleticism that Leeds United possess. Playing him in a deeper role might have worked, but throwing him into a more advanced role was sheer lunacy, really.
While Le Bris believes Samed needs more time, it is becoming clearer week by week that he is not up to the task at Sunderland, and the fans are running out of patience.
Le Bris will continue to use him, that’s for sure, but with Alan Browne back from injury, and Romaine Mundle’s return on the left hopefully freeing Enzo Le Fee up for a more central role, those opportunities for Samed will soon disappear.
Let’s just say, we can’t imagine his loan move becoming a permanent one at this rate.