Earlier this week, Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus opened on the decision to bring Regis Le Bris to the Stadium of Light over the summer.
And, even as his FC Lorient side suffered relegation from France’s top-flight last term, the Black Cats chief was convinced by the ‘extraordinary qualities’ he saw in the man eventually chosen to take over a side who had slumped to a 16th place Championship finish.
New Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris is not only an excellent communicator, Louis-Dreyfus tells RMC Sport, but also a coach who’s attention to detail is driven by a ‘relentless’ desire to improve on and off the pitch.
Both attributes came to the fore as Sunderland defeated Rob Edwards’ Luton Town to move three points clear of Burnley and Leeds United in midweek.
Le Bris needed only 20 minutes to realise his gameplan wasn’t working. In attempt to at a quick fix fix, he dropped Dan Neil into a back three. But, with the Sunderland captain struggling in a deeper role, Le Bris used the half-time break to make yet more tweaks.
This time, those tweaks had the desired affect.
Regis Le Bris explains Dan Neil tweak in Sunderland’s Luton win
While admitting that Neil hardly took to a new formation like the proverbial duck to water initially – he lost the ball in dangerous positions on numerous occasions as goalkeeper Anthony Patterson came to Sunderland’s rescue – this was a result largely down to the tactical flexibility both of the Black Cats’ manager and his exciting crop of players.
“We started in the 4-4-2 shape, and we expected to press like that,” Le Bris explains, speaking at his pre-Oxford press conference. “After 15, 20 minutes, it was clear that this pressure was not efficient enough so it was easy [for Luton] to play this kind of direct play.
“So we changed the shape to a 5-4-1, and Dan Neil dropped into the centre-backs. It wasn’t so efficient during the 20 minutes after.
“But, during half-time, we fixed the problem.”
Le Bris explains that he shifted the roles of Jobe Bellingham, Chris Rigg and matchwinner Mundle, baiting the Luton press and allowing Wilson Isidor to stretch the play with darting runs in behind Rob Edwards’ backline.
Le Bris the mastermind behind another Sunderland win
“We shared the idea clearly with the players, and I think the second half was much better in that part of the game,” Le Bris adds, again showcasing the communication skills that so impressed Louis-Dreyfus.
“It was very important as well to play in behind against this kind of man-marking. We changed two or three details of the movement of the eights and the wingers to attract their players and to play with Wilson in behind.
“Both adjustments were very useful in the second-half. We had much control. Of course, we still struggled against free-kicks, set-pieces so on.
“But I think we adjusted the balance of power and it was not a surprise to me that we scored twice in the second-half.”
Sunderland face a different sort of challenge this weekend. Oxford United will arrive on Wearside full of confidence after Des Buckingham guided the newly-promoted outfit to only three defeats from their first 11 games.
All of Oxford’s losses have come away from home, however, meaning pacesetters Sunderland will be heavy favourites to pick up all three points.