Régis Le Bris faces alarming 80% Sunderland statistic as board backing leaves clear problems to fix
Sunderland’s hierarchy remain behind Régis Le Bris, but the figures highlight the improvements needed at both ends of the pitch
Régis Le Bris retains the backing of Sunderland’s board, but a vote of confidence cannot disguise the problems he must address.
The message from within Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ club is one of stability, collective responsibility and belief that their head coach can turn results around. Supporter frustration is recognised, with the hierarchy continuing to regard Le Bris as central to Sunderland’s ambitions.
Yet the numbers illustrate why patience is being tested. Sunderland have scored seven goals and conceded 17 in nine Premier League matches, leaving little margin for error at either end. Their difficulties are not simply about creating opportunities. They are about taking them, while finding a way to stop opponents punishing them so regularly.
Sunderland cannot keep wasting their chances
The supplied big-chance figures show Sunderland have fashioned 23 significant opportunities and missed 17 — a miss rate of 73.91 per cent. That is almost seven percentage points worse than the average of the 20 clubs’ miss rates, which stands at 67.02 per cent in the same dataset.
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There is an important distinction here. Sunderland’s chance total is higher than several teams above them, including Chelsea and Aston Villa. The opportunities have existed, but too many have gone begging. The Manchester City fixture also makes the overall numbers look healthier. Sunderland created eight big chances in that game and missed five.
Remove that fixture and the remaining eight matches produced 15 big chances, with 12 missed: an 80 per cent miss rate. That does not mean the City performance should be disregarded. It does show how heavily one game influences the overall picture, accounting for more than a third of Sunderland’s big chances. For Le Bris, improving composure and execution is essential. Creating opportunities offers encouragement, but it provides little protection in the table unless those chances become goals. The players must also be better in those situations.
A worrying decline at the other end
The defensive figures are equally concerning. FBref records Sunderland’s team save percentage at 48.5 per cent this season, compared with 71.1 per cent across the previous Premier League campaign — a fall of 22.6 percentage points. That statistic should not be treated as a verdict on Robin Roefs alone. Save percentage does not account for how difficult the shots are to stop, and nine matches represent a much smaller sample than a full season.
Nevertheless, the decline raises questions about the protection Sunderland are providing their goalkeeper. Defensive errors, poor positioning and space afforded to opponents can produce opportunities that are much harder to save. The percentage alone cannot establish the cause, but it underlines the need to examine the quality of chances Sunderland are allowing.
Le Bris must find a way to make his team harder to punish without sacrificing the attacking threat needed to win matches. The club’s backing gives him support to pursue those improvements. It does not lessen their urgency. Sunderland need more reward from their opportunities and greater resistance when opponents threaten. Until those two things change, the pressure created by their Premier League results will remain.
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