Sunderland lost 2-1 against Bradford City in a pre-season friendly on Tuesday evening.
Sunderland now have just one pre-season friendly left before the start of the 2024/25 Championship season.
Regis Le Bris‘ side play Marseille this weekend before they gear up for their Championship opener vs Cardiff City on August 10th.
Sunderland’s new head coach fielded a vastly different XI against Bradford, handing starts to the likes of Simon Moore in goal, Abdoullah Ba, Elliot Embleton, Timothee Pembele, Nazariy Rusyn, and more.
But it was a rather tame performance from the Black Cats who were bested by League Two opposition, with Romaine Mundle the man on the score-sheet for Sunderland.
So far this summer, Sunderland have won three of their six pre-season friendlies; beating South Shields, Eldense, and Blackpool, losing vs Gateshead and Bradford City, with a draw vs Nottingham Forest during their time in Spain.
Although the Bradford performance was a disappointing one, Mundle stood out, earning praise from multiple sources.
Romaine Mundle shines for Sunderland despite Bradford City defeat
Mundle joined Sunderland from Standard Liege during the last January transfer window.
But the former Spurs youngster, 21, would endure quite a tough first half-season in England, scoring once in 11 Championship outings as the Black Cats achieved a disappointing 16th place finish.
Mundle though has looked sharp this summer. Sunderland Echo handed him an 8/10 rating for his performance vs Bradford City, with journalist Phil Smith writing:
“Genuinely superb. Bradford couldn’t get near him, the winger carrying the ball huge distances on a night where the team generally couldn’t get going. Took his goal very well and made a real statement to Le Bris.”
Michael Graham also shared his praise for Mundle after the Bradford defeat, posting on X:
The Romaine Mundle dilemma at Sunderland
Mundle was certainly a live wire against Bradford, and he has been throughout this whole pre-season.
He’s definitely staking a claim to be in Le Bris’ first Sunderland XI vs Cardiff City. But like Graham says, Mundle is challenging for the left winger position which is nailed on for Jack Clarke.
So there’s already a bit of a selection headache emerging for Le Bris, albeit a positive one, with Mundle showing that he can give Sunderland a lot of energy and prowess in attack.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how the pair battle for a starting spot this season and to see whether or not Le Bris changes shape to try and accommodate both in the starting XI.
Should Clarke leave, though, Le Bris may be confident that he has a ready-made replacement in Mundle, who after a season or two could start to really flourish in the Championship.