It’s been a mark of the impact that the Lads have made during the early months of 2025/2026 that few (if any) games have really felt particularly high stakes, and nor has there ever been a sense that the next game — regardless of the result that preceded it — has anything extra riding on it.
The losses to Burnley and Manchester United, although frustrating, were met with a measured response by Régis Le Bris and the Sunderland players, and after we stumbled to a mediocre defeat at a sodden Craven Cottage
on Saturday, it’s time for the head coach and his charges to regroup, to address the shortcomings that led to only our third league loss of the campaign, and to hit back with a positive result against Bournemouth.
As has been the case all season, it’s right that we praise the players when they deliver, yet it’s also fair that we don’t overlook sub-par performances and potentially questionable tactical decisions. None of Sunderland’s three defeats have been hammerings and nor have we looked at sea whatsoever, but instead, they’ve been frustrating and closely-run — which in many ways demonstrates just how impressively we’ve taken to top flight football.
Le Bris has a colossal amount of goodwill safely stored and rightly so, but the decision to field a back five against the Cottagers, combined with a peculiarly sluggish display (another case of some post-international break sloppiness, perhaps) led to frustration and a sense of missed opportunity when the final whistle blew. A lack of control in midfield — not, as some claimed, entirely attributable to Habib Diarra’s absence — hindered the Lads on Saturday, and the overall standard of performance simply wasn’t up to par.
However, as was the case at Old Trafford and Turf Moor, he spoke eloquently in the aftermath and showed absolutely signs of being flustered or unduly concerned by what he’d seen. It’s a major strength and given that Granit Xhaka will doubtless tap into his vast reserves of experience and rally his teammates for the challenges ahead, there’s no reason not to believe that a home win on Saturday is achievable.
Naturally, as these players continue to get to grips with the top flight and all of the vagaries of this league, the occasional day when things don’t quite click is always a possibility. Indeed, the fact that we’ve lost fewer league games than Manchester City and an admittedly shambolic Liverpool is quite the stat — one that shines a spotlight on the fabulously unpredictable nature of the division.
Of course, nothing went wrong against Fulham that can’t be nipped in the bud: the odd stray pass here and the occasional failure to spot a teammate in space there, but the standards are high for a reason: this is a highly motivated team for whom losing represents the classic splinter in the finger, and they should be utterly determined to rectify it next time out.
Now, you might ask whether it’s right that so much emphasis is placed on Saturday’s visit of Andoni Iraola’s side, but whichever way you slice it, the fixtures that follow are particularly tricky-looking and it’s essential that we don’t allow the loss on the banks of the Thames to knock our confidence, our togetherness and our conviction in how we play our football.
Against the Cherries, could it be time to unleash the exciting Chemsdine Talbi from the start? Would reverting from what I feel is a safety-first back five to a more positive defensive setup give us a little more threat and control? We have the personnel and the players are certainly adaptable enough — it all depends on how Le Bris chooses to play it, and I hope “positively” is the answer.
From such situations can renewed focus and a stronger sense of purpose emerge, and whilst there’s no consensus on exactly what would represent a successful campaign for Sunderland, the goal of competing as strongly as possible and taking the game to any given opponent — regardless of how tough a game may appear “on paper” — is one of the goals in which we surely all share.
We shouldn’t be intimidated by the games that are appearing on the horizon and nor should defeats dent the sense of optimism that’s built up since our opening-day victory over West Ham. Mentally, we’ve seldom looked anything less than rock solid, and the chance to show that once again this week is a challenge that everyone should embrace.
