Inside Sunderland's dressing-room response to Bournemouth defeat as Noah Sadiki makes fan pledge
Sunderland are back in Europa League action in Poland having fallen to a disappointing defeat to Bournemouth last time out
Noah Sadiki says his Sunderland team mates are ready to respond and show fans their mentality has changed after their defeat to Bournemouth on Sunday.
The Black Cats are back in action in the Europa League in Poznan on Thursday having won their first two games in the league phase, but come into the game having lost four in a row in the Premier League. The 2-0 loss to Bournemouth was arguably their worst performance of the campaign yet and drew a strong response from inside and outside of the dressing room, with Nordi Mukiele saying the team deserved to be in the bottom three and saying that they needed to get back to what made them successful last season.
Sadiki said there had been honest conversations behind the scenes about the league form and recent performances and that he hoped fans would see a reaction in Poland.
"To be honest, it's been a little bit difficult for us after the loss against Bournemouth," Sadiki said. "But I think we had a good talk together. We've put the things on the desk that we needed to do better.
"We all know what we need to do better. So, yeah, we had enough of the talking now. The pitch is going to talk for us now. On our side, the plan is to show our fans that the mentality has changed a little bit, that we are tired of losing as well. And we need to translate that tomorrow into the game. And I think tomorrow my teammates and I are really ready to respond from the bad performances that we had."
Mukiele made headlines with his comments after the game, with Granit Xhaka taking to social media to tell fans the players knew their form and performance level at the Vitality Stadium was not good enough. Speaking at the pre-match press conference on Wednesday, head coach Régis Le Bris said it was positive that he had an emotional dressing room prepared to face up to where they had fallen short.
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"For sure, because when we lose games we are not happy and it's always emotional after a game," Le Bris said.
"I think this team has emotions and this team cares a lot as well, so it's really positive to have reactions and to try to find solutions because we still have a good team. The results are not good enough in the Premier League and we know how relentless this league is. When you make a few mistakes you get punished really quickly. It was the case once again at Bournemouth so it's important to understand, it's important to work together, it's important to share ideas as well and to be tough with each other, telling the truth when it's necessary to move forward."
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