Sunderland boss pinpoints exact moment of decisive Leeds United 'shift' with 'strong side' admission
Leeds United came from behind to take a point from Regis Le Bris’ Sunderland side.
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris admits his side struggled to cope with Leeds United after injury to Joe Rodon sparked a formation change in Sunday’s 1-1 draw.
Leeds were forced into the tweak in the aftermath of Sunderland’s opening goal, scored by Simon Adingra on 28 minutes, with Rodon picking up an ankle injury. The Welshman was twice caught by opposition players and replaced by Ao Tanaka, who joined Ethan Ampadu and Anton Stach in a midfield three.
Daniel Farke started Leeds in a 3-5-2 but in reverting to 4-3-3, saw his side dominate Sunderland with Dominic Calvert-Lewin rounding off a brilliant back-to-front team move shortly after half-time. The Whites ran riot over their hosts for a good 20 minutes but were unable to find a winner.
“I think we started well, we scored,” Le Bris said of the game “We had the opportunity to score the second goal, and the game shifted after the injury of Rodon. I think they managed a different structure. We struggled to find the best references to for the low build up and for the high press, and it was key.
“I think it's normal because after the changes you need time to improve and to get better, and this shift was a bit difficult to manage. It's a question of shared references. So we have our intentions, and then you need to to experience those situations in real time
“Even if, in theory, it's simple to solve after that, it's a question of doing it on the pitch. It wasn't easy today, but it's a part of the learning process.”
Sunderland were without half a dozen players due to AFCON and lost physical centre-back Dan Ballard due to an ankle knock. And Le Bris was relatively happy overall with his team’s performance against a ‘really intense’ Leeds side in good form.
“So eight players we are missing, and we still show the good character we should. I think we played well for part of the game and against a strong side, because they are good,” the Sunderland boss added. “They are in a good form, really intense with good players. So happy for that.”