Sunderland Head Coach Régis Le Bris revealed how his coaching of “linked phases” has helped to transform Sunderland into the versatile unit on display at the start of this season. Daniel Wales reports.
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00:00The dark days of early 2024 are not ones remembered fondly on Wearside. Regis Lebris was keen
00:07to point out the value of last season's failures, however.
00:10Even if it was tough last season, it was a great experience for them. So they know that
00:19they can play well, but they know as well that when they are not involved as a team,
00:26not involved in all the phases, they can lose and the team spirit can fail really. So this
00:38experience I think was very useful to restart this season. This is I think one of the main
00:43reasons. The second reason, maybe it's the way we are working as a staff and with them
00:52as well. We used the ideas of the last season, when they played well, what were the pillars
01:00at that moment and when they played bad, what were the reasons. And then we mixed all these
01:07ideas to start this season with them.
01:10The nature of the new Sunderland has been encapsulated in a free-flowing attack and
01:14defensive solidity, which Lebris revealed were two linked phases of play that he has
01:18been coaching.
01:20I always want to link the phases. So when we explained the game model, it wasn't like
01:32a different isolated moment or phases. They are always linked. So when we attack, when
01:39we have the ball, when we are in possession, we have in our background the way we will
01:44defend just after the losing of the ball. So all the phases are linked and we train
01:51like that. So I think now the players are more comfortable with these ideas and during
01:58this first half especially it was the case.
02:01Finally, the use of width as a team, particularly against Burnley, was very effective. Lebris
02:06explained the purpose of exploiting wide areas.
02:09These players are very important because they are creative and they can create with
02:17just five centimetres. They can create many things. So when they are wide, we want to
02:24pin the axial corridors or a side to give them spaces to create. And we want as well
02:34to give them some support with triangles. So for example for Patrick Roberts, Patrick
02:40can play well because he has Rigi and Trey very close to him to support, to give him
02:46the possibility to make a pass or dribble. So an isolated player can play well. He always
02:54needs support and I think these two triangles are working well at the minute.