Le Bris 'absolutely clear' on Sunderland training ground priority after setbacks

REGIS Le Bris is prioritising game-management on the Sunderland training pitches as the Black Cats look to learn from the frustration of dropping points from winning positions against Coventry and Millwall.

Sunderland were 2-0 up against the Sky Blues only to be pegged back in the second half and again lost the lead at Millwall on Saturday, when they conceded an equaliser deep in stoppage time.

The second half at Millwall led to some criticism from fans, who questioned what appeared to be a change of approach. The Black Cats were dominant in the first half in the capital but the picture changed after the break and Le Bris' side were pushed back.

Sunderland's head coach felt the second half swing was down to Millwall's improvement rather than his side's approach, but still admitted game-management is something his young side need to work on.

He said: "The positive of a young team is we are energetic, have a willingness to attack and fast. But we have to manage this particular scenario and with experience [we will do it better].

"Fast attacks are not always useful and we probably cleared too many balls when the pressure was not too big. We lost probably 10/15 balls during the second half that we can manage better.

"First of all, we are working on being more proactive in our zonal defence, this is absolutely clear. This is one of the points we have to develop.

"But at Millwall, they play really good direct play. It was really impressive. It is not long balls just to kick the ball away, it is accurate, it is precise and in the right spaces. They play the second ball very well. We will not be the first team to struggle against this, for sure."

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Le Bris continued: "This was a different scenario. It is about [dealing with] direct play and the second ball, and if you have the chance to recycle the second ball the space is big. So it becomes a counter attack game. Because the opponent is playing good direct play, we have to manage that scenario. We are still a young team and we have elements to develop on this, for sure.

"It's not easy because I think our backline was very impressive in the defensive side of our game. The game becomes like a battle and when it is like this, the emotions are very high. Rather than kicking the ball away sometimes you have to keep calm and be very smart to play the first ball through the pressure. This isn't an easy part of the game and we probably need more experience on this."