New Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris can learn a valuable lesson from Gareth Southgate and his England struggles this summer.
England were held to a 0-0 draw vs Slovenia in Tuesday night, with the point meaning that the Three Lions finish top of their group.
But England fans are growing increasingly frustrated with the negative style of play under Southgate during this summer’s Euro tournament in particular.
Southgate has faced criticism online for his tactics and team selection with England having drawn against Slovenia and Denmark, beating Serbia 1-0 in their opening game.
But for Sunderland and their new manager Regis Le Bris, a valuable lesson can be learned from Southgate’s England woes this summer.
Le Bris, 48, has been made the new head coach at Sunderland after a four-month search process following the sacking of Michael Beale in February.
Regis Le Bris must favour attacking football over anything at Sunderland
England haven’t been the most exciting team to watch in Euro 2024, and their stats against Slovenia paint a very telling story.
Southgate’s men had 72% possession, made 694 passes and had 12 attempts on goal, though their goalkeeper only had to make three saves on the night.
Although England did look more attacking-minded than they did in the previous game vs Denmark, the football was still painful to watch.
But if England had drawn 0-0 and put on a good show then there’d be a much brighter mood among supporters this morning.
Even if the Three Lions drew 3-3 against Slovenia; fans would much rather see some attacking potency and overall exciting football, even if it means conceding three at the other end.
Regis Le Bris must avoid Sunderland mistakes
Sunderland under Beale and Mike Dodds last season were very boring to watch.
Both managers forced a very negative and slow style of play upon the players and it left Sunderland fans with a very similar feeling to England fans right now.
Le Bris then, more than anything, needs to put on a show with Sunderland next season, and learn from mistakes made by Beale and Dodds, and now Southgate too.
Doing so will be a very good test of his tactical and coaching abilities and it’ll certainly take time, and it’ll require a good summer transfer window, which is where sporting director Kristjaan Speakman needs to do his part.
But favouring attacking and exciting football, even if it doesn’t garner the vastly improved results that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus might expect, would surely make for a better mood among Sunderland supporters this time next year.
And as we saw with the Beale fallout; having Sunderland supporters on board can truly make or break a tenure.