Régis Le Bris opens up on Sunderland's FA Cup debriefs and reveals his message to his squad
Sunderland suffered a shock defeat in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday
Régis Le Bris has told his Sunderland players to accept and digest the disappointment on Wearside after their shock defeat to Port Vale last Sunday.
The Black Cats lost 1-0 to the side bottom of the League One table, with fans left frustrated by a lacklustre showing. The Sunderland head coach said there had been an extensive debrief on Wearside last week and while he was keen to put the result in the context of a week in which the club all but secured their top-tier status for another year by picking four league points on the road, he accepted the performance fell well short of what was required.
“Yeah, disappointing, a bit embarrassing, to be fair,” Le Bris said.
“This week reflects our journey this season, I think. After three defeats in a row, the last one at home against Fulham, where we picked up four injuries in the same game, we earned a good point at Bournemouth, a tough place, really intense, they were on a good run. Then we went to Leeds. Survival was the key word in this game, and Elland Road is also a tough place, and we found a way to win, once again, and it was a well-deserved three points. After that, consistency is key, and against Port Vale, obviously the pitch levelled everything, so it was more about desire, fighting spirit, and we lacked, clearly, those foundations. So it's sad, because we missed a big opportunity to go further.
“We showed before at Everton and Oxford that we were able to do that, but we didn't repeat. So with the players, we were tough, but it is what it is. You have to take the lesson and go further.”
Le Bris admitted he was surprised by the performance of his side on the day but said it was a steep learning curve for his young squad, and added that he and his coaching staff were equally accountable for the defeat.
“Sometimes in this learning curve, especially for a young squad like ours, it's hard to assume [how they will perform], but it is what it is,” Le Bris said.
“It's not only the players. I would like to include myself and the coaching staff, the staff in general. We failed. After this defeat, it's important to highlight the whole journey. It's not only this defeat.
“Ups and downs are part of the learning curve, I repeat,” he added.
“It's not a positive moment, but we have to take the most of it. In a big club, you always have to win and you have to assume the pressure is not only on the pitch. With this young squad, they never experienced this situation before so if you don't know it, it is hard to anticipate it. It's important in our journey, to feel how upset the fans are, because it's a new experience for them. Last year when we lost five games in a row, we had the play-offs after and so the reaction was different and that was fair. Now it's a bit different because we are Sunderland, and it shouldn't happened. It did happen, so we have to digest it and live with the full feeling of it, so we can understand the full feeling of our fans.
“In the context of that game we have to win, so it wasn't a good feeling. We try to find explanations and to challenge them in one way and to support them as well, even if the responsibility when you play for Sunderland is high and you have to own it. It's not only once a week, it's three times a week.”
Le Bris insisted he didn’t feel his players were complacent ahead of the game and said a ‘quiet’ dressing room at the start of the week reflected their disappointment at how the day unfolded.
“It's hard to say, to be fair,” Le Bris said.
“I didn't feel any complacency in the sessions before. It's often a sign when you feel that you don't train properly with the right intensity, but it wasn't the case. It's more about the moment, when you have to fight and you have to face a different situation, because it was totally different. I'd say we didn't find the solution, and it's a shame because it was a big opportunity to go further.
“I hope so [the players understand the depth of disappointment]. They seem to understand but they are young, I think it is a quality of young people, they switch on really quickly and go to the next event. The mood of the whole squad wasn't really positive, so I think they understood.”
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Reflecting on Sunderland’s poor attacking display in the game, Le Bris felt they were too slow to adapt to the game and vary their play - a lesson he hopes they can take forward.
“It's always hard to explain with only one reason, I think, because it's a complex situation, many variables in the equation,” Le Bris said.
“But the main point was probably the desire, because if you fight... It wasn't the usual game, the pitch is big, that's true, but you have to find a way, probably individually, because pass, pass, pass wasn't the best way to find a solution. So try with maybe being more bold, probably, individually, to find a solution to score, but we didn't create a lot of chances.”
Le Bris said he hoped for a response against Brighton on Saturday, and that the key was to bring the fundamentals that have served Sunderland so well this season.
“I think it's more about the identity, once again,” Le Bris said.
“If you show desire, you show strong teamwork, strong togetherness, it's a starting point for me. After that, you can win, you can lose, because the opponent is strong and the scenario in football is still unpredictable. Sometimes you win, but you didn't deserve it. Sometimes you lose, but you didn't deserve it, it is what it is. At least show these basics. I think the players will do that.”
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