Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris is wary of the strengths Leeds United possess ahead of tomorrow’s Championship clash at the Stadium of Light, insisting: “We need to respect every team.”
The Black Cats boss has won six and lost two of the opening eight league games as his team sit top of the Championship table. Now comes the challenge of the Elland Road outfit who have only conceded one goal on their travels this season.
“We know Leeds are a strong team ready for promotion I think, with many strengths, in possession, out of possession, counter-attacks, and they are well managed,” said Le Bris. “They also have a very good goalkeeper [Illan Meslier] who I know and it will be a good challenge for us. We need to respect every team.
“The teams at the bottom and at the top of the league because every game is difficult to win. This game will be different and we will need to manage it with intelligence as well. We don’t want to be naïve but we want to play with our identity so this is a new experience.
“It will be very useful to grow and understand our development. I think now we have a better culture but this is a new challenge with new problems to solve for sure.”
The fans can play a big part for Sunderland, says Le Bris. He added: “When it’s possible, it’s the case at Sunderland to have this energy behind us. The way we want to play I think we can create that link with the fans, and sometimes with high pressing and tackles and different positive actions, out of possession and in possession as well, we can feel this energy behind us. And if we can feel it the opponent can feel it as as well. The momentum can be created and reinforced by this energy.”
Asked where the team could end up in terms of their potential through the season, Le Bris said: “I don’t know. It’s still difficult to assess the pathway of the team, of the players, because this team is young, this team has good behaviour and they want to learn from positive and negative experiences.
“We reacted well after defeat for example. The potential is there we still have strong opponents. What we can control is our behaviour, our way of improving, our game and strengths and weaknesses as well. Then the scenario of the league is unpredictable. We can’t say what position we will be at the end of the league but if we are involved as we are now I’m very confident the way we can play. Against Derby we lost control of the game so it shows parts of our game can be improved.
“Leeds are are a strong team and can manage phases very well, in contact for example, they are so quick to create chances. When we have the ball, the key point is still the same idea, but the game can go another way sometimes by one decision – our decision, the opponents decision, the referee decision, many things can happen.”
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