One year on: Kyril Louis-Dreyfus at Sunderland - the positive signs and what still needs to happen

Yes, Mikel Arteta's side had ultimately exposed the gulf between where Sunderland and where they would like to be, but for at least an hour there had been hope for the future.

Because Sunderland competed, and did so on their terms, playing (as best they could) their way.

It is worth reflecting on that a little further, given that Christmas Eve marks one year to the day that Sunderland announced a deal for Kyril Louis-Dreyfus had been agreed in principle.

That announcement brought significant optimism for supporters, even if the journey was still not quite complete.

It would be another two months before Louis-Dreyfus would watch on at Shrewsbury Town, signalling that a new era really was about to begin.

But in that Christmas message, Louis-Dreyfus outlined what he hoped would be the principles of his stewardship, both in the short and long term.

Significantly, it placed the major changes earlier that month in some context for the Sunderland support.

Louis-Dreyfus' arrival was the driving force behind the arrival of Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman, in turn leading to the identification of Lee Johnson as the primary candidate for the role of head coach.

It appeared to signal a pivot to a more modern footballing structure.

"We will seek to be at the frontier of research and innovation in all performance domains and place great emphasis on player development and the team's style of play," he told supporters.

“In acquiring Sunderland, I understand the responsibility that’s placed upon me as the custodian of the club’s future.

"We want to create a team that is entertaining to watch and that embodies the spirit and the culture of those who attend… reconnecting the team with its fanbase, whose support will be so vital to our success."

That the team is slowly but surely assuming a clearer and more exciting style of play is unarguable, and is one of the key achievements of the new regime's first year in charge.

After Sunderland's play-off defeat against Lincoln City, Louis-Dreyfus signalled that he would not panic and change the footballing leadership he had put in place months previous.

Though the squad Johnson inherited demanded a certain level of pragmatism in terms of style, a high-octane first half performance in that second leg as 10,000 supporters returned to the Stadium of Light after a year away was put forward as the template to build on.

It has not always been that straightforward, but the direction of travel is clear.

Powered forward by still staggeringly consistent home attendances, their form at the Stadium of Light has improved significantly.

Quite often they are having less possession than in previous seasons, but that is creating space for creative players to shine.

As summer signings bed in and partnerships strengthen, Sunderland's pressing is also becoming visibly more confident and aggressive.

If at times you had to look quite hard to see that counter pressing style in action, now the blueprint is obvious, and that exhilarating strike against Arsenal underlined it.

It owes much to the major pivot in recruitment last summer, with Speakman and head of recruitment Stuart Harvey overseeing a window in which the club targeted young talent with the potential to become future assets to the club.

At times that has left Johnson's side exposed against powerful League One opposition, but it has also made the team more exciting to watch and has certainly grown the future value of the squad.

Investment behind the scenes has been fairly significant in terms of the footballing operation, with James Young overseeing a newly established data analysis department.

Across key departments there is clearly still much to be done even as encouraging progress has been made, with the recruitment department and the academy two obvious examples.

Where Louis-Dreyfus will hopefully make significantly stronger progress over the next year will be in building that relationship between club and supporters further.

There remains overwhelming support for his stewardship, and the outstanding backing at the Emirates from over 5,000 travelling fans showed that there is almost total backing for the principles laid out a year ago and now being put into practice.

But the continued uncertainty over the ownership structure of the club has seemingly prevented Louis-Dreyfus from significant engagement with fans, whether that be through media or through supporters, because non-disclosure agreements mean that questions that would understandably and rightly be asked cannot be answered in satisfactory detail.

It would have seemed scarcely imaginable this time last year that twelve months on, we would still be none the wiser as to Louis-Dreyfus' precise shareholding in the club.

To that end, off the pitch it has not yet been the clean break that many hoped for, and it leaves an element of uncertainty even as the mood remains broadly positive, because the key question now is whether everything is in place to kick on to the next level.

Not just on the pitch but off it, where investment in the club's public-facing operations has perhaps not yet been to quite the same level.

The impact of COVID-19 is of course a major factor in that, revenue streams hit significantly through 2020 and 2021, with some doubt over the early stages of 2022 as well.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on promotion, the club is undoubtedly in a stronger position than it was twelve months ago.

And there is plenty of encouragement that things will improve further, given that we are still only one transfer window through what will likely be a project requiring three or four as a minimum.

A strong January window and some greater transparency over the months ahead will go a long way in building on a promising twelve months, and really convince supporters that Louis-Dreyfus is in a position to unlock the club's potential.

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