Sunderland may have lost their place at the top of the table this weekend, but Regis Le Bris knows what his team need to do to avoid a collapse.
Before the season began, no one would have predicted Sunderland, under a new and untested manager coaching in England for the first time, would be competing at the top of the Championship table after a third of the campaign.
And yet, here we are. Regis Le Bris has got his young and inexperienced Sunderland squad playing attractive football, getting results, and the Black Cats are just behind Leeds United as things stand.
Sunderland look like genuine title contenders right now, but things can quickly change in the Championship. Luckily, Le Bris is well aware of how precarious and unpredictable this league can be.
- READ MORE: Regis Le Bris shares strange verdict on Millwall’s late goal vs Sunderland – fans won’t like it
Regis Le Bris needs Sunderland to be adaptable
Speaking on the Essential EFL podcast, Le Bris discussed what it will take for Sunderland to maintain their good form in one of the toughest leagues in the footballing world.
He said: “The range of styles of play is big. We have to manage our game model to be prepared for many scenarios and styles. It’s not easy to have all those ingredients, but so far it has not been too bad. This consistency will be the key for the future.
“From the beginning it was clear we could play like this with this team. The question was whether we could repeat it game after game. They played well last season but not over a long period. The foundations are very important for our game model, but the capacity to be adaptable is key.
“The Championship is a very competitive league, there is a large variety, and you have to manage many things.”
Draw at Millwall shows Sunderland have decent squad depth
Sunderland fans might be a tad disappointed to have thrown away two points against Millwall on Saturday evening, especially given the manner of the goal they conceded in injury time, but there were plenty of positives to take from that game.
The Black Cats squad was decimated before the match with injuries and suspensions, with Dennis Cirkin the latest absentee after undergoing wrist surgery.
But, the weakened and inexperienced side put in a gritty, impressive performance for large portions of the game, and proved that Le Bris has a squad capable of maintaining a title challenge this term.
It’s one thing to have a core starting XI full of quality, but that cannot be sustainable for the whole season, and Le Bris will need to depend on every single player in his squad this season, and for them to show that they can rise to all kinds of different challenges against very different teams.