As he seems to do in every press conference, Regis Le Bris tried to play down Sunderland's good form and insisted that the players, staff and fans all stay grounded and take each game as it comes. He's obviously a very intelligent and studious man and he won't be getting carried away regardless of our league position.
ALWAYS ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
“It is a long journey and we don’t really know how this identity could evolve. It depends on our players, the link they can create together, and the opposition as well and the scenario of the season. But the main point is the willingness to improve and to keep this mindset every day, even after a very good period like we had last week. It is very easy for a head coach to find many elements in the game where we need to improve, even if against Oxford we won and they didn’t use our mistakes or weaknesses - because we have weaknesses just like every team. For that game it was okay but if you repeat those kinds of behaviours then for sure 100% these behaviours can be a problem later on. That is our main focus. Obviously the dynamic is good but it is still the beginning of the season and we know that the Championship is very long, so this is our main concern at the minute.”
GAME BY GAME
“I hadn’t many expectations because we still had to find out the potential of the team, the way they would answer the game model, training sessions, the links the players would create or not, the injuries we could have or not. It depends on so many things that it is very difficult to have expectations. For me, it is all just about the next game. We know about the league and that we will need 90 points. 30 victories. So we have 28 points at the minute and it is just the beginning. It is a good start to the season obviously, we can’t say anything else, but we can’t expect many things at the minute. Just the next game, training properly and trying to have the biggest group as possible with all players involved.”
STAY FOCUSED
“For the players and the club it is clear that the fans are happy in the crowd, and this connection is very important for us. It is the connection during the game - for me, we don’t have a very clear target at the minute for the future. Just trying to train properly, try to improve our team, try to make it better in every phase. If people like our team it is okay, it’s not a problem, but for us we just have to be focused on our job.”
BEST FOOTBALL IN THE LEAGUE?
“I don’t know what the ‘best football’ is exactly, probably the best football is when you are winning. But I think the expression of the team has connected with the identity of the club and it probably creates that connection with the crowd and the fans. At the minute we are winning but I have watched many teams play very exciting football, with many qualities, and the competition in this league is very strong. It is just a question of this period - we did well but many other teams also did well. Now, we have to keep it very stable. That is huge and the main point.”
