Former Stade Rennais and Stade Reims defender Jean-Luc Arribart says Régis Le Bris has to take all the credit for Sunderland’s good start to the season.
[Le Télégramme](https://www.letelegramme.fr/sports/football/regis-le-bris-bluffe-tout-le-monde-en-premier-league-le-fee-isidor-kroupi-truffert-les-bretons-font-sensation-avec-sunderland-et-bournemouth-6919766.php) have published an interview with Jean-Luc Arribart, who is now an analyst and consultant for Canal+ in France.
Sunderland secured a return to the top flight by winning the Championship play-off final in May. Last summer, they invested heavily to reshape their squad.
Le Télégramme asked the pundit if he’s seen Sunderland enjoying a good run in the Premier League. When responding to that, he insisted no one could have predicted the club’s positive start.
_“Not at all, obviously. Anyone who says yes will be the biggest liar in history. In the Premier League, we’re used to seeing newly promoted teams struggle. So, it’s extremely surprising to see Sunderland’s current success, after hitting rock bottom in recent years,”_ he said.
_“This team’s success is primarily due to Régis Le Bris, whom you know well in Brittany. His adaptability and tactical creativity since last season in the Championship deserve recognition. He adapted incredibly quickly. A bit like Arsène \[Wenger\], we wondered where he came from, and it’s been a complete success._
_“We thought it was going to be difficult for him this season, but we were wrong. He maintained a game plan that was perfectly assimilated by both the players who were there and those who arrived.”_
The newspaper asked Jean-Luc Arribart about Sunderland’s decision to bet on Wilson Isidor. They initially signed him on loan from Zenit Saint Petersburg in August 2024 and made his stay permanent earlier this year.
Isidor struggled at Zenit, but impressed for Sunderland last season, managing 13 goals and two assists. He has four goals from nine Premier League matches this season.
_“The strength of a club lies in finding players others don’t consider and envisioning them performing,”_ Jean-Luc Arribart explained.
_“We thought Wilson Isidor was pretty good, but perhaps not consistent enough, inconsistent, a bench player. But if we trust him, if we make him understand that he can be a starter and score ten goals, that’s real management skill._
_“We’ll let him mature a bit, gain confidence. But he’s a player who poses a problem for every defender in the Premier League. He needs to convince himself that he belongs among the elite, in the Premier League.”_