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.
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