00:00There is quite evidently a feel-good factor at present on Wearside.
00:06Plenty of supporters came to watch Sunderland train at the Stadium of Light earlier in the
00:10week, with head coach Regis Lebris leading a small revolution.
00:16The momentum is interesting because of confidence, and confidence for us, and if you use it properly
00:22I think you can create, you can try many elements.
00:34With frustration, with fear, it's not possible.
00:38And for the opposition, because they know that we are doing well, probably they won't
00:42take so many risks.
00:44So the momentum is interesting at that moment.
00:47But when you are on the top of the table, the teams try to win against the first.
00:58So it's a new challenge for them as well.
00:59So it's always a question of balance.
01:03Sunderland's improvements this season have come in all areas of the pitch, with Lebris
01:07explaining how his coaching differs from when his team are not in possession of the ball,
01:13to when they do have it.
01:18We have many rules for both, I think, it's very important.
01:26The defensive side, I think, are the foundations.
01:30If you are very well organised out of possession, you create, you can create confidence for
01:37the team because it's still nil-nil.
01:39So you can win with only one goal.
01:42When you concede one, two, three goals, you need to score one, two, three goals to win.
01:48So this part of the game is very important for us.
01:50And it's probably easier to improve that part of the game because you don't have the ball
01:57in your feet, it's easier.
01:59But it's an important part of our game.
02:02And if we defend properly, we can score very quickly in counter-attack, as we did for the
02:07second goal against Oxford, for example.
02:10And then in possession, we have freedom, but the game model, we have always a very good
02:19structure to organise the movements and to prevent the counter-attacks when we lose the ball.
02:27Perhaps one of this season's unsung heroes for the Black Cats has been Chris Mepham.
02:33His defensive solidity has certainly impressed his head coach, who spoke highly of his contributions.
02:40Very important because of his level, of his behaviour, of his experience as well.
02:48He's very important and he's very connected with the way we want to improve as a team.
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