Regis Le Bris Must Make Key Changes to Sunderland Starting XI After Brighton Loss

Sunderland suffered a 2-0 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday afternoon, in perhaps the Black Cats’ most disappointing and worrying performance so far this season. 

Brighton beat Sunderland 2-0 courtesy of goals from Maxim De Cuyper and substitute Jaouen Hadjam, with Fabian Hurzeler’s side playing the last third of the game with ten men following Pascal Struijk’s dismissal for a foul on Wilson Isidor as the Black Cats striker broke in behind. 

In truth, neither Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris nor his players on the Stadium of Light turf covered themselves in glory on Saturday against the Seagulls, leaving a worrying impression on the game when analysing where it went wrong for the Black Cats. 

The Frenchman lined Sunderland up with five defenders when needing to assert their dominance at home against the Seagulls, and also made some peculiar substitution decisions akin to withdrawing creator-in-chief Enzo Le Fee and not bringing on winger Chemsdine Talbi when chasing the game in the second 45’.

However, the loss was not just down to the manager, with poor individual performances across the pitch for Sunderland showcasing a glaring lack of organisation, creativity and attacking intent. 

As a result, Le Bris needs to make several changes to his Sunderland starting XI for the upcoming fixtures, in order to turn the tide on the Black Cats’ now three-game losing streak. 

Following the disappointing display against Brighton, Sunderland have two away fixtures on the agenda next week, with Portuguese second tier side SCU Torreense in the Europa League in midweek before a trip to Bournemouth on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League. 

First of all, central defender Omar Alderete must return to the Sunderland starting XI, with the Paraguayan back to full fitness following his national appearances during the break. 

Le Bris explained before the Brighton loss that Alderete is back in contention after nursing an injury picked up in pre-season at the start of the campaign, and the naturally left-footed defender has been a glaring absence in the heart of Sunderland’s defence. 

His ability to progress possession on the left side and his experienced defensive acumen would be a welcome return to the Sunderland side, which has conceded 7 goals in their last three Premier League outings. 

Another defensive change Le Bris must make is replacing left-back Reinildo for summer signing Dayann Methalie, in order to impact attacking proceedings positively. 

Individually, Reinildo performed well against Brighton, but the former Atletico Madrid stalwart is much more defensively minded then Methalie, which often seems whichever Sunderland left-winger ahead of him doubled up on by the opposition and outnumbered in the final third. 

French youth international Methalie’s marauding runs down the left side were one of the exciting aspects of his profile that Sunderland shelled out almost £26m for, and those are desperately needed to aid the Black Cats in attack within the next stage of the season.

On the other flank, Le Bris’ insistence on employing a natural defender at right midfield must stop, but this frustrating aspect of Sunderland’s current run is not just down to the Frenchman’s tactical employments. 

Sunderland failed to sign a marquee right-winger in the summer after lengthy transfer talks with the likes of Roma’s Matias Soule and Geny Catamo of Sporting, instead signing another trademark left-winger in Malick Fofana from Lyon on deadline day, with that lapse in transfer judgement now rearing its ugly head for the Black Cats. 

To solve this glaring issue, Le Bris must give either Fofana, Nilson Angulo, Chemsdine Talbi, or even young Chris Rigg (who was one of Sunderland’s best players in pre-season and has confusingly barely featured since) a consistent run of games on the right wing rather than utilising defenders akin to now-injured Thomas Meunier and Trai Hume in this role, because it is massively hampering the Black Cats in the final third. 

The issue in attacking selection with Reinildo and defenders at right midfield places the total creative burden on Le Fee’s shoulders, and when is outnumbered as he was against Brighton without the long-ball release of bullish Brian Brobbey on offer, Sunderland look extremely toothless in the final third. 

Following the Brighton defeat, Le Bris admitted that his side must improve in attack, and starting XI changes akin to these are the first steps to stopping the current worrying streak of tactical and structural Sunderland problems. 

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