Regis Le Bris remains adamant his side’s dreadful run of form is not a major issue, and has cited the recent experiences of the French champions as proof that the Black Cats have nothing to fear ahead of Friday’s play-off opener at Coventry City.
Since being left in the no-man’s land of fourth position a month-or-so ago – unable to secure automatic promotion, but assured of a play-off place with six games still to play – Sunderland’s form has fallen off a cliff.
Le Bris’ side picked up just one point from a possible 18 in the final six matches, leaving them rock bottom of the Championship form table heading into the play-offs.
There were mitigating factors behind their dreadful run, with Le Bris making a number of changes as he rested and rotated in an attempt to keep his players fit for the play-off campaign, with the head coach citing a lack of competitive edge as the key reason for his side’s dramatic downturn.
Sunderland are far from the only team to have suffered a dip in both performances and results once they effectively had nothing to play for, with Premier League champions Liverpool having slipped up at Chelsea at the weekend in the first game after the title was secured.
Over in France, Paris St Germain were heading for an unbeaten league season until they were crowned champions, then they immediately lost their next two Ligue 1 games. However, once they returned to a competitive, make-or-break environment in the Champions League, they beat Arsenal at the Emirates.
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“This all started with a massive achievement,” said Le Bris. “We were in the top four all season and secured the fourth place. After that, probably after the games against Leeds and Hull, we felt that the automatic promotion became unrealistic.
“But at the same time, the fourth place was secured really early, so we didn’t really have anything to chase. In that situation, I think it’s tough for all of the teams in the world.
“If you look at Paris St Germain in France, for example, they won the title and went unbeaten all season. But when they started to prepare for the semi-final, they lost two games in a row, one at home and one away. Even the biggest teams in the world can struggle in that situation, and I think it was the case for us as well.
“Now, we play for a specific event and we have something to chase, so the mindset will be completely different.”
Le Bris has remained calm throughout his side’s six-game winless run, insisting that results were irrelevant when positioned against the need to keep his players fit and fresh for the play-offs.
He would have been concerned had he not sensed a subtle shift on the training ground as the start of the play-offs approached, but instead, he has been pleased with the way in which his players have started to display the kind of sharpness and hunger that was driving them on earlier in the campaign.
“I think the players are ready,” said Le Bris. “In the training sessions in the last three weeks, it was really clear that they switched on.
“Now, the effects weren’t the effects that I expected in the games (against Oxford and QPR), but the quality of the sessions and the commitment and willingness to train properly were really good.
“You could see that from the intensity of the training sessions. Even the conversations they are having – they get more frustrated, they argue more and that just shows they are really involved and wanting to take care of our game model and our team.
“Because many injured players were back, the level stepped up even more. It is always like that. I don’t want to be disrespectful to the Under-21s players, but they are younger and they need experiences. The level is not exactly the same.
“In the last few weeks, it has been a bit different. For me, they are players who want to play the best games and the most important games, so I am sure they will be ready.”
