Daniel Wales reports from the Academy of Light as Régis Le Bris previews Sunderland’s trip to face Burnley in the Premier League, making clear that his side will always be hard to beat this season.
00:00It was the perfect start for Sunderland on their return to the Premier League, but after the high of the opening day, the hard work will now really begin for the Black Cats.
00:13Back here at the Academy of Light, Regis Labrice, his staff and his players will have certainly enjoyed the aftermath of their 3-0 victory against West Ham United, with goals from Elisa Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidore.
00:27But attention will have quickly turned to their next fixture away at Turf Moor against Burnley.
00:32Now, unlike Sunderland and Leeds, Burnley were the only promoted side not to win on the opening weekend, instead losing 3-0 Tottenham Hotspur.
00:41And as a result, Sunderland may see this fixture as another opportunity for three points, despite the gap between the sides last season in the Championship.
00:50A Sunderland win would fully cement their positive start to the season in the Premier League, with tougher tests still to come.
00:57If survival is the aim, Sunderland must take their chances when they come around, something they did effectively against West Ham on Saturday, with the backing of their home supporters at the Stadium of Light.
01:09Of course, being able to win in a somewhat ugly fashion, despite Labrice's clear focus on tactics and on patterns of play, will also be hugely significant for Sunderland if they are to establish themselves as a fully-fledged top-flight team.
01:28It's good to win like that as well, no problem, three points are three points.
01:35Yes, because it's always the question of connection with the opponent, scenario, momentum, many things can happen in football.
01:47But if we stay organised, always hard to beat without giving too many gifts to the opponent, at least it's still 0-0.
01:56So many things can happen from that point.
01:58And I think if we are looking back to this game against West Ham, the first half was balanced and we conceded two chances.
02:08We created maybe one, so because we were able to make it hard to score for them.
02:16We were still 0-0 at the end, during the half time, sorry, at the half time.
02:22So for the second half, there was a new story because we don't know, sometimes just one event can change the dynamic, the momentum.
02:31And because football is really unpredictable, sometimes a referee, sometimes a player can make a bad decision.
02:39Is it our players? Is it the opponent? We don't know. But we were still in the game.
02:44So I think the main objective is to stay consistent. And after that, we can enjoy, we can find a solution to shift the momentum.
02:52You mentioned that your focus is, of course, on Burnley the next game.
02:56But do you look at groups and fixtures in this league and think where you'd like to be at certain stages?
03:01And do you have targets for certain points of the season?
03:04No, it's hard to manage like that. I think it's always game after game.
03:09Otherwise, these predictions are wrong and it doesn't work.
03:16And just finally, given that you've brought in so many new signings this summer so far,
03:20how important have the established leaders in this group who are already at the club been integrating the new players into the squad?
03:29So, two dynamics. The first is our players from the last season.
03:38They were really positive with the new signings. And I think it was the case last season.
03:44Was it at the beginning or during the winter transfer window?
03:49New players were really welcome from the others. And it's a really strong point from this team.
03:58And the second one is the connection from the new players. Do they want to connect with the squad or not?
04:04And in both ways, it worked well.
04:08Now, there were always worries that Regis Libris may struggle to get all of his new additions to gel in time for the new season.
04:15But there were no such concerns against West Ham.
04:18Instead, Sunderland looked like a cohesive unit with players that would look out for each other on the pitch,
04:24despite some of them having only arrived at the club in recent weeks.
04:28With winning games and surviving ultimately being the aim this season,
04:32that synergy will be tested more against strong teams in the Premier League.
04:36But Sunderland will know that they are always capable of finding a way.
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