Phil Smith: I watched Sunderland's pre-season win over Wrexham and these were my key conclusions

Sunderland concluded their pre-season tour of the US with a 1-0 win over Wrexham in Philadelphia on Sunday.

Here’s Phil Smith’s key conclusions from the game…

Sunderland trending in the right direction ahead of Premier League campaign

Results are an irrelevance at this stage of pre-season and you only have to look at the last two summers to understand that. The Black Cats have rarely won under Régis Le Bris at this time of year and yet in both of his campaigns in charge, they have raced out the blocks.

Still, returning back from the US without a win might just have led to a few nerves amongst fans as the wait for more additions in the transfer market goes on. This was therefore a reassuring outcome and most importantly, a reassuring performance.

Wrexham were the better side through the final half hour of the game, understandable given at that stage they had a far more experienced XI on the field. On another day they might have scored an equaliser but it’s worth noting that really, by the time Le Bris made his mass changes on the hour mark the game should have been done and dusted.

Sunderland had scored once through Nordi Mukiele while Romaine Mundle, Nilson Angulo and Trai Hume all had really good opportunities from inside the penalty area. Wrexham started with a real intensity and directness in Phil Parkinson’s 3-4-3 system so familiar to Sunderland fans, but Kieffer Moore was a peripheral figure and the Black Cats were pleasingly ready for the duels in midfield. That gave them the platform to control possession and while in the punishing heat the tempo was fairly sedate, Le Bris’s side always looked like they could go through the gears when they needed to. Some of the combination play was enjoyable to watch, Brian Brobbey borderline unplayable and bringing the players around him into dangerous areas. While there is still work to do across the board in being more clinical when Sunderland reach the final third, it is pleasing that pre-season so far has seen the team build on their growing composure in possession from the final weeks of the 2025/26 campaign. Encouraging, too, that they did so here even without Enzo Le Fée who was rested due to a minor knock. Of course this was against second-tier opposition and certainly you would expect a gap in the technical level of the two teams as a result. Remember, though, that Wrexham’s season starts against Middlesbrough on Friday and so they had the slight edge here in terms of being further ahead in their fitness programme.

This certainly won’t define how Sunderland fare on the opening day against Ipswich Town or in the campaign beyond, but there is much to be positive about how this side is developing. The only negative from the game was that Nordi Mukiele and Simon Adingra both appeared to pick up knocks, which Sunderland will be hoping aren’t serious.

Noah Sadiki makes excellent return to the starting XI

With Granit Xhaka still absent ahead of his return to training this week, Noah Sadiki was asked to play a slightly more disciplined role at the base of Sunderland’s midfield. While Xhaka’s place in the starting XI when fit and available isn’t in question, nor in truth is Sadiki’s ahead of him, this was a very impressive audition. Sadiki tracked back well in the rare moments where Wrexham threatened, gathered the ball confidently from the goalkeeper and back four and even found moments to break into the final third.

Sadiki spoke on his arrival at the US training camp in Nashville of his determination to kick on again this season and to add more goal contributions to his game. This was a mightily impressive start and served as a reminder of what a massive talent the Black Cats have in their ranks.

Le Bris’s pre-match point proved in solid opening hour

The Sunderland head coach’s remarks ahead of the game that the starting XI that faces Ipswich on the opening day of the campaign will be very similar to the one that faced Chelsea in May raised eyebrows but this game underlined where he is coming from.

Sunderland will strengthen this summer, targeting at least three additions to improve the competition in their squad. The foundations, though, are very good. There is familiarity in key positions on the pitch, evidenced by the opening goal. Brobbey’s excellent hold-up play, Trai Hume’s position just off the right flank with Mukiele having the freedom to make an attacking run beyond him. In key positions the Black Cats ended the season with players not just in form but improving. This opening hour was a reminder that these players were in possession of their shirts for a reason, and the squad will be strengthened further by the arrival of the remaining World Cup players this week.

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Anthony Patterson makes positive impression on potential farewell appearance

Sources behind the scenes at the Academy of Light have noted how hard Anthony Patterson has been working in the off-season to be ready for whatever challenges lie ahead this season. That was evident as he made his first appearance of the pre-season campaign on Sunday, making some important interventions throughout his half hour on the pitch. Though he didn’t have any major saves to make his handling was good and he was very alert, racing off his line late on to snuff out a potential Wrexham opening in the closing stages. While supporters were understandably impressed with his showing it is unlikely to make a significant difference to his future - Patterson wants to play regularly and Sunderland have a good opportunity to make an important sale in SCR terms. As with so many of the players involved in this tour, it’s important that Patterson is fit and ready for whatever is next and this cameo demonstrated that he is.

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