Journalist Michael Graham has revealed the key difference he’s noticed in Sunderland under Regis Le Bris this summer.
Sunderland under Regis Le Bris played their third pre-season friendly on Friday evening.
The Black Cats are currently in Spain for a pre-season training camp where they play two friendly fixtures.
Le Bris’ men took on Nottingham Forest on Friday and drew the game 1-1, with Jack Clarke scoring from the spot.
So far this summer, Sunderland have beaten South Shields 5-0, lost 2-1 to Gateshead, and drawn with Nottingham Forest.
Sunderland have four more friendly games left before they kick off their 2024/25 Championship season with a trip to Cardiff City on August 10th.
By then, Le Bris will hope to have his philosophies and playing styles embedded into the players, who played under three different managers last season in Tony Mowbray, Michael Beale, and then Mike Dodds on an interim basis.
And so far this summer, journalist Michael Graham has noticed one key difference about Sunderland under Le Bris.
Michael Graham reveals key difference at Sunderland under Regis Le Bris
During the Nottingham Forest game, Graham posted on X, commenting on how much quicker Sunderland are in the transition.
That was a key trait of Mowbray’s Sunderland but something that was dulled under Beale and then Dodds in the second half of the season.
A key criticism of Beale and Dodds was the pair’s negative style of play, which is surely something that the Sunderland owners and Kristjaan Speakman want Le Bris to amend.
Graham posted:
Regis Le Bris can win over the Sunderland fans by doing one thing
Under Beale in particular, Sunderland fans were very unhappy, and the unhappiness mostly came from the negative style of play.
But Beale’s record of four wins in 12 games wasn’t totally poor, and if he wasn’t so unpopular with fans, he may have been given a lot more time.
So Le Bris can learn from Beale’s failures and get Sunderland fans on board by playing a more attractive style of play, even if it doesn’t fire Sunderland up the table right away.
That, and Le Bris can show good communication skills in the media, which he so far has done, and which is something Beale also fell short in.
There’s some positive signs at Sunderland under Le Bris. But the club desperately needs a new striker before the start of the new season.