Sunderland have been given an honest overview by Watford boss Tom Cleverley ahead of the upcoming Championship clash.
Sunderland are set to face off against Watford in the Championship, where Regis Le Bris’ side will hope to notch a second win in a row and close the gap on the top two.
The Black Cats will come up against an out-of-form side led by Tom Cleverley, who looks to be somewhat under the cosh in his role with the Hornets, partly down to their recent record of just one win in their last nine, alongside Watford’s record of pulling the plug on managers prematurely.
The under-pressure Cleverley will need his side to pull something out the bag against Le Bris’ outfit that looked brilliant on the attacking side against Middlesbrough, notching a 3-2 victory at the Riverside Stadium, and he has praised several elements of the Black Cats set-up ahead of the clash, from coaches and players, to recruitment and infrastructure.
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Watford boss Tom Cleverley hails ‘calculated’ Regis Le Bris and ‘effective’ Sunderland set-up
Both on-and-off the pitch, the improvement at Sunderland so far this season has been impeccable, with the abysmal 2023/24 Championship season far out of Kristjaan Speakman’s sights now, with the Director of Football doing brilliantly in the aspects of bringing in Le Bris, as well as making positive changes in both transfer windows this season.
Watford boss Cleverley was in fact able to prioritise Sunderland for such things, alongside their focus on academy development and their current crop of players.
In his pre-match press-conference, via Watford’s YouTube, Cleverley said: “They’re a team that I really enjoy watching, to be honest. They don’t try and reinvent the wheel. They’re very effective in what they do, their recruitment’s been outstanding, their manager seems very calm and calculated.
“I like watching them play football, they’re a team who, like I said, in all the leagues across the world, I enjoy watching Sunderland play football. I like how they’ve developed academy players into a really important part of their club, and I respect a lot what they’re doing. It’s going to be a tough test, but you’ve seen all season, the tougher tests have brought the best out of us.”
Opposition bosses hailing Kristjaan Speakman shows extent of club improvement
For weeks, and even months, many around Sunderland have praised the current set-up of the club which, despite concerns in previous years, has really come into fruition this term.
Whilst this recognition is a clear sign of improvement, the real indicator of this is the fact that outsiders have begun to pay attention to what Speakman has achieved this season in Wearside.
With the bold choice of appointing Le Bris as manager, combined with the impeccable transfer business such as Wilson Isidor joining on a permanent and Enzo Le Fee arriving on loan from Roma, it is about time that the opposition recognised that Sunderland are a club that is certainly on the up.