Phil Smith: This is what has to happen at Sunderland after woeful Bournemouth defeat

Florent Ghisolfi often says that he sets neither targets nor limits.

The Premier League is a demanding environment and as we saw against Arsenal and Man City, you can play well, fight until the end and still come out on the losing side. Equally, Sunderland have shown better than any other club that you can confound all expectations if you are organised, together and recruit smartly.

So all Ghisolfi asks is for players and staff to ‘Be Sunderland’ everyday. By which he means to embrace an underdog spirit, represent the fans, work hard and fight for every ball. It is not very often we have said this since promotion back to the Premier League or indeed since the arrival of Régis Le Bris, but at Bournemouth on Sunday they fell well short.

The opening 20 minutes of this game were as poor as we have seen Sunderland in over a year, looking not just ill-equipped for the challenge ahead but short of energy and intensity all over the pitch. The primary problem from the Black Cats right now is that through form and injury they simply cannot get a settled back four out on the pitch, and their total of five errors leading directly to opposition goals is the highest in the entire division. Their fundamental strength from last season has disappeared, and left them with a mountain to climb before they had even got going at the Vitality Stadium. To focus on two centre backs would nevertheless spare others from deserved scrutiny. Right from the first whistle Sunderland were lackadaisical, caught dithering in possession and failing to match the energy of Bournemouth and the quite brilliant Evanilson. What happened to Sunderland’s underdog mentality? The Brazilian centre forward scrapped, hunted down every lost cause and was an absolute pain in Sunderland's proverbial. Last season, this would have been the other way round all over the pitch: Sunderland was the place no one wanted to travel and the team no one wanted to play.

As ever, a little context is needed. Though Sunderland’s points total and place in the table is a worry, they have not always looked far off from the required level this season and in fact have been competitive for the vast majority of their games. Sloppy, yes. A little pedestrian, on home turf certainly. This was a different matter entirely, and it must be a source of some encouragement that it was only a month ago that this team was playing at a good level at home and in Europe. They can be better than this, and they will be when Brian Brobbey and Thomas Meunier return, when Dan Ballard is fit again and Habib Diarra in contention for regular starts. There is an awful lot of football to be played, and Sunderland are just a win or two away from climbing a few spaces and finding a bit of room to breathe.

If that’s to be the case, then this has to be an early turning point and a line drawn in the sand. Le Bris has proven exceptionally good at managing the emotions on Wearside during his tenure, keeping a clear head and plotting his way out of the pressurised moments when they have arrived. There is every reason to believe he will do so again, after what was surely one of his most muddled selections at the Vitality Stadium. Though the decision to play Omar Alderete in order to get Nordi Mukiele at right back was understandable, to go without any wingers at all left them badly lacking outlets in possession and in particular because Timur Tutierov had been preferred to Juan Riquelme up front. Tutierov’s rise is a sensational story and fully deserved for his hard graft behind the scenes, but even at U21 level he has primarily been a left winger.

A rare rift between terrace and dugout has also opened up on Chemsdine Talbi’s ongoing lack of minutes. It has clearly not been an easy summer behind the scenes as a potential move away from the club progressed, but when the team is struggling for a spark it’s a hard situation for fans to fathom. Le Bris may well have his reasons, but then why is Talbi making it onto the bench? He is clearly not the answer to Sunderland’s woes on his own, but it neatly sums up how quickly things have got a little muddled behind the scenes.

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Le Bris is also struggling with the consequences of the summer transfer window more broadly. Sunderland’s relatively limited activity and budget was based on the understandable desire to keep the team together, but so many of those players are well off last season’s level right now and those brought in have with the exception of free agent Meunier made little impression as of yet. There is still a lot of time for that to change, but it adds to the fear that Sunderland may have lost their way a little.

It is only days since Sunderland enjoyed one of their best ‘Til The End moments yet, fans revelling in a generational moment as players tore towards the stand to celebrate Noah Sadiki’s late winner in Portugal. Nothing about Sunderland’s recent form has to be permanent and important above all else is that Ghisolfi, Le Bris et al avoid panic behind the scenes.

This defeat doesn’t have to be anything other than a wake-up call but for that to be the case, Sunderland need to get back basics. They need to Be Sunderland again.

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