Sunderland rounded out their USA ‘Summer Series’ over the weekend with two games in quick succession, firstly facing Leeds on Thursday evening local time before jetting off to Pennsylvania to complete the final leg of their trip against Wrexham on Sunday morning local time in the battle of the docu-series.
With a much healthier squad selection following the return of many of Sunderland’s World Cup heroes, both games saw split squads, with minutes being shared evenly across the two fixtures whilst
workloads continued to increase for those who have been part of the squad throughout July.
Let’s take a look at both games collectively and see what patterns emerged ahead of our final pre-season double-header.
Sunderland Line-ups
With all but Granit Xhaka, Chemsdine Talbi, Omar Alderete and new signing Thomas Meunier still to link up with the squad, Régis Le Bris was able to name a much stronger bench than in the previous fixture against Liverpool.
Speaking to the media ahead of the weekend fixtures, he noted there would be an increase in minutes for those who had been involved throughout pre-season, with many of them stepping up to around an hour, whilst the returning World Cup players would be eased back into action.
The starting line-up against Leeds remained largely unchanged. However, with Wilson Isidor returning to the UK for personal reasons, Brian Brobbey slotted straight into the central striking role.
Given the added bench depth now at Le Bris’ disposal, the plan was clearly to split the workload across the two fixtures. As a result, wholesale changes around the hour mark against Leeds allowed the remainder of Sunderland’s first-team players to gain minutes before a more substantial run-out against Wrexham a few days later.
With several days between fixtures, Le Bris made two further changes against Wrexham as both Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra returned to the starting XI at the expense of Alan Browne and Enzo Le Fée.
Le Bris confirmed that Le Fée had picked up a slight knock against Leeds and was therefore given a well-earned rest, allowing Chris Rigg to gain more valuable minutes in his preferred central position.
With Angulo, Adingra, Browne & Seelt on the bench among others, Sunderland were able to make much more cWith Angulo, Adingra, Browne and Seelt among those on the bench, Sunderland were able to make much more balanced changes during the Wrexham game. That allowed the side to maintain momentum throughout the match rather than suffering the dramatic drop-off in quality seen during the previous two fixtures.
Operating in his familiar 4-1-4-1 / 4-3-3 shape across both games, Le Bris showed no interest in changing formation. Instead, he continued to reinforce the positional patterns established last season.
However, we have seen several different midfield combinations due to the absence of Granit Xhaka. Across these two games, we’ve effectively seen a leadership-by-committee approach, with Le Fée, Diarra, Sadiki and Browne all spending spells operating as the de facto number six whilst Le Bris searches for the most balanced solution whenever Xhaka requires rotation.
Opposition Line-ups
Both opponents approached the fixtures slightly differently.
Daniel Farke’s Leeds found themselves in a similar position to Sunderland, with several players only recently returning from extended World Cup breaks. However, aside from Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who missed out with a slight knee issue, Leeds had close to a full squad available.
Like Liverpool, Farke split his squad between established first-team players and youngsters, making significant changes shortly after half-time before rotating again around the 70-minute mark.
Remaining faithful to his 3-4-3 system, Farke continues to overload central areas by creating box midfields through his central pairing and floating number 10s, allowing quick passing combinations to break opposition presses.
Wrexham, by contrast, were approaching their final pre-season fixture before beginning their competitive campaign against Middlesbrough in the Carabao Cup.
Consequently, Phil Parkinson fielded what was effectively his strongest available side as they treated Sunderland as a final dress rehearsal before the Championship season.
Operating in his familiar 3-5-2, Parkinson once again relied upon a traditional front two supported by energetic wing-backs tasked with supplying crosses into the penalty area.
There were also several familiar faces for Sunderland supporters, with Callum Doyle starting in defence, Nathan Broadhead and Kieffer Moore leading the line, and George Dobson appearing from the bench.
Unlike Leeds, Wrexham made more traditional substitutions, introducing fresh legs at half-time, shortly after the hour mark and again during the closing stages.
Toothless against Leeds
After a fairly passive opening, Sunderland found themselves behind in perhaps the most pre-season fashion imaginable.
Following a loose pass from Enzo Le Fée, Felix Nmecha spotted Melker Ellborg sweeping well outside his goal and drilled a low effort in off the post from an outrageous distance. Ellborg lost his footing trying to recover and, to his credit, even appeared to see the funny side afterwards.
As mentioned in my first piece on Sunderland’s US tour, results matter very little during pre-season.
What was much more encouraging was Sunderland’s attacking intent compared to the Liverpool game.
With Leeds pressing aggressively, Sunderland repeatedly found space behind the defensive line, only for the final pass or finish to let them down.
Early opportunities for Brobbey and Le Fée came and went, whilst several efforts from Mundle were blocked before Leeds were truly tested.
As highlighted previously, the increase in shots from distance remains one of the more encouraging tactical tweaks. Sunderland again generated five or more attempts during the first half, demonstrating a greater willingness to pull the trigger whilst continuing to create more meaningful attacking situations – an area that often frustrated supporters last season.
Despite failing to score, Sunderland continued applying pressure throughout.
The introductions of Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki for the closing stages helped Sunderland regain control of midfield, and whilst the second half wasn’t exactly a thriller, it was encouraging to see just how quickly the returning first-team players improved Sunderland’s positional structure.
Battle of the Docu-Series
With Robin Roefs, Habib Diarra and Noah Sadiki all returning to the starting XI, Sunderland looked much closer to what we became accustomed to seeing throughout the 2025/26 campaign.
With Le Fée unavailable, Chris Rigg operated in a more advanced central role, whilst Diarra drifted towards the right to combine with Nordi Mukiele and Trai Hume. Sadiki anchored midfield but was also given licence to burst forward through the inside-left channel whenever Romaine Mundle held the width.
Once again Sunderland came up against a back three that frequently became a back five – a shape Le Bris previously struggled against during his time in the Championship.
However, it quickly became apparent that Sunderland have made considerable progress against this type of system.
Once Sunderland recognised Wrexham’s pressing triggers, they quickly established territorial control and, despite still building fitness, displayed the difference in quality between the two sides.
A clear tactical feature involved using wide players making out-to-in runs to pin Wrexham’s defensive line deeper, allowing Brian Brobbey to drop into pockets of space where he could isolate Dominic Hyam and become the focal point around which Sunderland’s midfield rotated.
That imbalance forced Wrexham’s remaining central defenders into uncomfortable decisions.
Either they stepped out to engage Brobbey, leaving space for Sunderland’s full-backs to exploit, or they stayed deep and allowed both Diarra and Rigg to carry possession freely through the half-spaces.
Diarra benefited from this early, producing a cut-back that Mundle fired wide.
Later, Sadiki found himself driving into acres of space before seeing an effort blocked shortly before half-time.
Sunderland’s goal showcased these patterns perfectly.
Neat combination play down the right released Mukiele, Brobbey pinned Hyam brilliantly with his back to goal before laying the ball perfectly into Mukiele’s path, allowing the defender to rifle his finish into the far corner.
One aspect I’ve noticed during Brobbey’s limited minutes since returning is his improved ability to post up defenders in the manner of an NBA power forward.
Whilst this was already a feature of his game last season, his body positioning and footwork now appear more refined, helping him avoid many of the grappling fouls he was previously penalised for.
By establishing a stronger base and controlling defenders with his positioning, Brobbey now appears far more comfortable receiving with his back to goal before either laying the ball off or spinning into space.
Whether coincidental or not following a summer spent in the USA, I wouldn’t be surprised if Brobbey has consciously worked on this aspect of his game with his development coaches. It certainly looks more controlled and efficient than last season.
The End of the Summer Series
With Sunderland now returning home to complete pre-season against French opposition, the Summer Series has proven a valuable exercise.
Beyond the obvious fitness benefits, it has allowed new arrivals and younger players to integrate further into the squad ahead of what promises to be a demanding campaign involving European football.
With limited statistical data available from pre-season friendlies, analysing detailed numbers is difficult. Instead, the focus remains on physical conditioning, tactical relationships and reinforcing patterns of play.
On those fronts, Sunderland appear to have picked up exactly where they left off in May.
The Lads now return to the Academy of Light for another week of training before travelling to RC Lens next weekend for the next stage of preparations.
