REGIS Le Bris has no fears ahead of his debut season as a Premier League head coach, and the Sunderland manager is “convinced” that unity on the pitch and in the spectators can be his team’s superpower in the top tier.
And, in true Le Bris form, Sunderland’s head coach claims he isn’t thinking about facing Pep Guardiola or Arne Slot, but rather about the immediate issue of training and improving his team ahead of the start of pre-season and the August kick-off.
Le Bris claims promotion has given Sunderland “new impetus,” and the Frenchman is looking forward to the task ahead, unconcerned about the troubles of the teams that have risen from the Championship in the last two seasons.
“We are talking about the NBA of football, but it is an exciting challenge, and we like challenges,” Le Bris told the Italian media.
“I am not worried; I am still confident that it must be a collaborative effort: we want to develop a solid team, staff, and structure. Maintaining our beliefs, I believe, will help us to be successful.
“In the Premier League, many newly promoted teams are relegated during their first season. It will be challenging, but it is a tremendous task, and we are confident because we know we have a strong club behind us and, most importantly, extraordinary fans who will back us.
“After four years in League One and four in the Championship, we needed a new impetus: the Premier League provides us with new oxygen. We will strive hard to remain competitive.
Last season, Opta predicted that we had less than a 5% probability of finishing in the top six and a 25% possibility of relegation to League One. We were able to defy expectations via hard work on the field and the power of an amazing team that exploited its collective energy to achieve remarkable outcomes.”
Le Bris was asked what it would be like to face Liverpool and Manchester City, both of which have high-profile managers. “The way I am, I don’t worry too much about the future or the consequences,” he told me.
“I always take it one day at a time, trying to figure out how I can help the squad at this specific time. “I think about one minute at a time, and it will be the same when we have to face Liverpool.”
Le Bris was appointed Sunderland’s head coach a year ago this week, and the 49-year-old claims he has felt welcomed and wanted from day one.
The first time I met them was in front of the official club shop, when the new shirt was released. There was a 100-metre queue of people who had been waiting since the morning to buy the shirt.
They didn’t recognize me; I was virtually a stranger. He was particularly struck by what was mentioned during his first meeting with Sunderland players a year ago.
“At the first meeting I asked the lads what, in their opinion, had brought them to be there, at that moment, at the pre-season camp,” he recounts.
“Everyone responded by discussing their common desire to play in the Premier League.” These are phrases you hear all the time, but in this case, they were joined with facts, sacrifice, and a strong desire to succeed.”
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