Régis Le Bris delivers interesting view on criticism Sunderland are ‘dropping off’ too much when leading.
Sunderland have dropped points from winning positions in their last two Championship fixtures
Régis Le Bris says he wants his side to be more proactive in their defending after the frustration of conceding late in stoppage time at Millwall.
Sunderland had dominated the first half at The Den despite Le Bris being forced into six changes as a result of injuries and suspension, but the second half saw a very different game. The Black Cats did have chances to score on the break, but by and large the hosts were dominant. That led to some criticism of Sunderland’s approach and particularly after they had given up a two-goal lead against Coventry City in their previous fixture. Some supporters have felt that Sunderland are sitting off and dropping too deep in the lead, but Le Bris feels a big part of the game on Saturday was the way in which Millwall played – something he believes they deserve a lot of credit for.
He says there is significant room for improvement for his young side when it comes to game management and mainly in how they avoid losing possession to invite yet more pressure.
“The positive of a young team is we are energetic, have a willingness to attack and fast,” he said.
“But we have to manage this particular scenario and with experience [we will do it better]. Fast attacks are not always useful and we probably cleared too many balls when the pressure was not too big. We lost probably 10/15 balls during the second half that we can manage better.
“First of all we are working on being more proactive in our zonal defence this is absolutely clear. This is one of the points we have to develop.
“But at Millwall, they play really good direct play,” he added.
“It was really impressive. It is not long balls just to kick the ball away, it is accurate, it is precise and in the right spaces. They play the second ball very well. We will not be the first team to struggle against this, for sure. This was a different scenario. It is about [dealing with] direct play and the second ball, and if you have the chance to recycle the second ball the space is big. So it becomes a counter attack game. Because the opponent is playing good direct play, we have to manage that scenario. We are still a young team and we have elements to develop on this, for sure.
“It’s not easy because I think our backline was very impressive in the defensive side of our game. The game becomes like a battle and when it is like this, the emotions are very high. Rather than kicking the ball away sometimes you have to keep calm and be very smart to play the first ball through the pressure. This isn’t an easy part of the game and we probably need more experience on this.”
Sunderland are looking to get back to winning ways and continue their fine home form when they welcome West Brom to the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night.
