Is Jobe Bellingham coming back to Sunderland?
Régis Le Bris’ tactical adaptability and the redemption of Brian Brobbey and Chemsdine Talbi defined Sunderland’s stunning win at Stamford Bridge.
Sunderland’s win at Stamford Bridge felt like one of those watershed moments that redefine a season – a night when the narrative shifts from promise to proof, from potential to genuine persuasion.
Four years ago, Sunderland were grinding out a 2–1 victory away at Gillingham in League One. That afternoon, under Lee Johnson, they clung on with ten men after Elliot Embleton’s dismissal, Ross Stewart and Aiden O’Brien leading the line in front of a few thousand hardy Mackems at Priestfield. Fast forward to now, and the same club has just beaten Chelsea – the reigning Club World Cup holders – in their own backyard to go, however briefly, second in the Premier League table. And they deserved it. From Gillingham to Stamford Bridge, the trajectory borders on the miraculous.
It was fitting that two of Sunderland’s most scrutinised summer signings, Brian Brobbey and Chemsdine Talbi, combined for the decisive goal. Brobbey, subjected to a flurry of hostile commentary from the Dutch press amid well-documented personal challenges, produced a moment of composure and maturity that silenced his detractors. He held his ground, waited, and with almost surgical precision slipped the ball through for Talbi, who finished with a calmness that belied his years. Both have been doubted, both derided – and both, in one moment of synchronicity, offered the perfect riposte.
Régis Le Bris, too, deserves profound credit. His tactical pragmatism, intellectual humility and willingness to evolve were on full display. Known for his devotion to a fluid 4-3-3, Le Bris broke from his own orthodoxy to start with a back five for the first time since his arrival on Wearside. It was an act of managerial realism rather than dogmatism. Two weeks earlier at Old Trafford, Sunderland had been undone early on before switching systems mid-match. This time, Le Bris anticipated, adjusted and executed. His approach was measured, rational and utterly without ego – a masterclass in adaptability and foresight.
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And so Sunderland, a club once synonymous with struggle, continue to reframe their own mythology. Their summer outlay of £150million looks modest when set against Chelsea’s near-£2billion expenditure in recent years, yet it was Le Bris – Sunderland’s understated polymath of pragmatism – who out-thought and outmanoeuvred the so-called “world champions.”
The last time Sunderland triumphed at Stamford Bridge under Gus Poyet, it was called a miracle. That was 2014 – a victory that symbolised defiance and survival. A decade on, the miracle feels subtler but no less profound. This time, Sunderland are not clinging to the Premier League’s coattails; they are arguably the story of the campaign so far.
Now, astonishingly, the Black Cats sit on 17 points – with 40 traditionally viewed as the benchmark for safety. It has been an extraordinary start, almost alchemical in its transformation from dream into possibility. Whether it endures remains to be seen, but what is certain is that Sunderland have given themselves every conceivable chance to achieve something genuinely remarkable – something that transcends mere survival and enters the realm of belief.
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