Sunderland picked up their first win on the road away at the City Ground on Saturday evening, coasting up to a dizzying third place come 7:30 pm as the full-time whistle blew. From a solid defensive performance
and a resolute attitude to game management, Sunderland were able to take all three points back up to Wearside and reach the magic eleven-point haul in only six games.
With Nottingham Forest under new management & a new look system in Ange-Ball, how did Le Bris set his stall up to dig deep and rob Postecoglou of yet another opportunity to pick up his first win as Forest manager?
Sunderland Line-Up
Due to the suspension of Reinildo Mandava, we were expecting at least one change to the Starting XI; however, much debate was made during the week as to whether a change in shape/system was in order, and we might get our first glimpse at a five at the back system from the off, given the form of our central defenders.
As usual, Regis gave little away during his press conference but stuck to his tried & tested system, making only the one change as Arthur Masuaku came in to replace Reinildo as a straight swap in the left-back position. Elsewhere, the side that started the game against Aston Villa remained unchanged, with Chris Rigg playing following his early substitution last week, and Enzo Le Fée retaining his place on the left wing as an unorthodox wide player, often drifting infield.
With an expectation to surrender possession, the usual 4-3-3 spent most of the time looking like the usual 4-4-2 shape as Le Fée & Talbi supported their midfielders in a mid-block, and Chris Rigg pushed up alongside Wilson Isidor to help funnel the press down Forest’s left side when building up from the back.
Opposition Line-Up
Following a long trip in the Europa League earlier in the week, Ange opted to make five changes from his midweek side which saw the return of many familiar faces. In came the likes of Chris Wood, Dan N’Doye, Sunderland target Dilane Bakwa, Nicholás Dominguez, and a first league start for summer signing James McAtee in midfield.
With blistering pace on either wing, Sunderland had to be wary of transitional moments as both Bakwa & N’Doye in particular carried a huge threat when space was left behind the Sunderland back line, in the centre of the pitch, Elliot Anderson & James McAtee remain great ball carriers and so required as many driving lanes as possible screened out of the game for both midfielders.
With Chris Wood remaining a regular goal threat having finished 4th in the Golden Boot race last season, Sunderland’s defenders needed to be on high-alert as the Forest man remains capable of producing a goal out of nothing, with Ange Postecoglou placing a larger emphasis on more controlled possession a flurry of crosses from deep were to be expected and required our central defenders to be on high alert all evening.
Ange’s renewed Philosophy
With a trigger-happy Marinakis at the helm in the City Ground, Nuno Espirito Santo’s transition football, which had served Forest so well last season, was out, with a more possession & control focused conservative style introduced by Ange Postecoglou following the success of switching to this against his better judgement for Spurs last season in an attempt to secure European Silverware.
Whether Marinakis felt like he could replicate this during Forest’s campaign this season remains to be seen. Still, in Ange, Forest have switched to become a more conservative side, which actually favours Sunderland in some respect,s given the transitional style we’ve become accustomed to under Le Bris.
With any change in system, it often takes several weeks to adjust, especially without a pre-season to prepare for said changes; therefore, we caught Ange at a bad time. To provide some context on this, during Ange’s first four games in charge, Nottingham Forest have already averaged an additional 3.5% average possession per game in comparison to Nuno and if you remove their Europa League tie from this it increases further to almost 8% more possession in league fixtures and now places them within top five for most possession this season.
Forest’s Winger Threat
Despite rarely testing Robin Roefs’ gloves during the opening half, Forest’s main threats came whenever they were able to draw Sunderland’s defensive line forward and allow both Bakwa & N’Doye to utilise their pace in behind our line at times. N’Doye in particular was able to make Hume look a tad foolish at times however adjusted well to prevent the pacey Swiss international from carving any further chances.
Masuaku on the other hand had a little more trouble dealing with the explosiveness of Bakwa, receiving a yellow card within the opening half hour for his troubles. Whilst Masuaku was clearly a little rusty during his first taste of Premier League action since 2022, the space Bakwa would often push into did leave ground for Masuaku to attack in the other direction which his four crosses & 1/3 dribbles demonstrated in flashes. That being said he did still finish his hour on the field with a 100% tackle success rate despite that early yellow card, so hats off to him for that.
Sunderland’s Set Piece Dominance
In a game which was ultimately decided by one moment of action, Sunderland’s set-piece threat has continued to be a thorn in the side of teams; however, this time it was the work of our other central defender in Omar Alderete who was able to convert and open his account with a brilliantly disguised run & powerful header through Mats Sels to break the deadlock.
Utilising both Mukiele & Masuaku as visual blockers paired with the sneaky work of Masuaku to impede the onrushing defenders, Alderete was able to ghost around the back unmarked, similarly to how Luke O’Nien & Dennis Crikin both scored goals for Sunderland last campaign. Once spare though, Alderete still had a lot to do and managed to power the ball through Sels and into the back of the net.
Sunderland produced a set play xG of 0.61, which was almost double that of their opponents, with only 0.32 and continued a positive trend of creating a healthy number of opportunities through set pieces & second balls. Whilst not the most orthodox way of generating chances, it does still showcase yet another way Sunderland can remain threatening whilst this new team connects.
Roefs Distribution in Build-Up
Although the work of Robin Roefs from a goalkeeping perspective is what continues to gain all the plaudits, his distribution and composure with the ball at his feet are quietly becoming an important part of how Sunderland builds out from the back in games.
By utilising his ability to work as a sweeper, short goal kicks were played back to him before inviting the press, spreading across to Mukiele before playing back across to Alderete to break the first line of press and helped get Sunderland out of pressure. Pair this with his ability to go long where required or split the lines with some raking daisy cutter balls and we’ve not only found an exemplary shot stopper, we’ve also got someone capable of using their feet to great effect and can often act as an extra outfield player when required.
Partnerships Beginning to Form
With the new signings fully integrating into the Game Model proposed by Le Bris, we’re slowly starting to see patterns emerging within our regular build-up which remains an encouraging sight as the season still remains within its infancy. In particular, I thought it was worth once again pointing out the left sided triangle which is starting to gel nicely between Noah Sadiki, Enzo Le Fée & our Left Back as can be seen in the graphic below.
Whilst Reinildo or Masuaku held width down the flank, Le Fée would take inside and Sadiki would almost drop into the left back position to build attacks from whilst in controlled possession. It’s nice to see the core triangles philosophy that Le Bris leaned into so heavily during his first season make a return with several nuances, which show an evolution in the idea now that we’ve stepped up into the Premier League.
On the opposite flank, it’s clear that Hume will overlap whilst Talbi underlaps to help link up play with his midfield partner, in this case, it was Rigg, and once more create that triangle to interchange passes and keep control of the football.
Defensive Solidity
Once again, Sunderland’s back line showed the resolve to deal with whatever was thrown their way and amassed a huge 42 clearances, 6 blocks, and 6 interceptions, which once again saw both centre halves come away with a 50% aerial duel win rate. Despite switching to a back five with fifteen minutes left on the clock, Dan Ballard came into the fray and won 100% of his aerial duels and made three headed clearances to ensure all three points came back to Wearside.
Special mention goes to Lucharel Geertruida, who once again showed great tenacity during his short cameo and nearly produced a brilliantly mazy run to seal the points in injury time if not for another important save by Sels. With a 91% pass accuracy, including 2/3 long balls and composure to keep Hudson-Odoi quiet, the Dutch international is slowly finding his feet and won’t be long before we see him complete his first full match for Sunderland.
On the Road Again
With another away trip next on the agenda, Le Bris will be feeling relieved that we’re heading to Old Trafford already at the magic points total, and therefore we could potentially see a more relaxed & free-flowing display against a struggling Manchester United team who’ll be playing to either save or sacrifice Ruben Amorim from his managerial duties in Manchester.
With a four-game unbeaten run, Sunderland will have plenty of confidence that their fast-paced transitional squad will thrive playing against an open and expansive Manchester United in the hope of setting up a return to the Stadium of Light against Wolves in two weeks.
