Sunderland boss Le Bris explains awful form before play-offs as fans reminded of ‘where we were’ having secured a play-off place as early as the start of April.
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has described his side’s dismal end to the season as a “strange period”, having secured a play-off place as early as the start of April.
The Black Cats lost their final five Championship games of the season, having secured a play-off berth with a draw at Norwich on matchday 41.
They still comfortably finished fourth and will face Frank Lampard’s Coventry City in the play-offs.
A final-day defeat to Queens Park Rangers at the Stadium of Light means Sunderland go into the post-season lacking confidence, while Coventry ended their campaign on a high with a 2-0 win over Middlesbrough to secure fifth place.
Asked about fan pessimism heading into the play-offs, Sunderland head coach Le Bris said: “I understand but we have to remember where we were one season before.
“This team has shown so many qualities this season, it doesn’t disappear like that (clicks fingers).
“It has been a really strange period because we secured this place so early and it was clear that this squad, the youngest in the league with a small core, deserved to recover.
“We disturbed the flow of the squad, it’s rhythm and its references so that they could recover and so that we could test some new foundations.
“But in the end we know our foundations as a team.
“We know what works and what is positive for us, we know in our heads maybe what options could be good for us in the games.
“We are clear on our foundations and I think at that level, we are always on the edge, it’s not unusual.
“The players are ready to react.”
On the defeat to QPR, Le Bris added: “We tried to be aggressive but we didn’t find the right distances and so it was difficult to disturb them in the first half.
“In the second half we had the ball but didn’t find the quality to create chances, apart from Ballard’s header.
“It’s true that we are struggling to create but I think it’s connected to the period we are in.
“We have the same squad that was able earlier to create chances every game, so it’s probably more connected with the period and the context of these games.
“We’ll have a full squad available for the play-offs and this is important, sometimes just a question of balance can disturb the whole flow of the game and it will be another chapter.
“A coach is concerned by everything, this is not knew, but I still believe we have the quality and now we have a new chapter to open.”
