The Black Cats host Everton this evening knowing that a win will lift them to second position in the Premier League table, just five points adrift of leaders Arsenal.
Le Bris’ side have done superbly since winning promotion in the play-off final in May, with their most recent win at Chelsea highlighting the depth of quality that was added to the squad during the summer transfer window.
Sunderland signed some top-class performers ahead of their return to the top-flight, but just as crucially, they also recruited players willing to buy in to the core principles and team mentality Le Bris had already established on Wearside. As a result, the transition from Championship to Premier League has been surprisingly smooth.
“Getting the right characters is really important in the recruitment process,” said the Sunderland boss. “When you analyse a player through footage, you can watch his technical abilities, his physical attributes and so on, but you can observe his behaviours as well. For us, it's really important.
“If we say our identity is based on different key pillars, one of these key pillars is the connection, the ability to play with your team-mates. You have to assess it. Sometimes it's not easy to find this particular ability, but if you want to watch it, you can find some cues when you watch a game.
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“For example, how do they respond to an error for a team-mate? How can he manage different situations with the relationship of his team-mates as well? It's really interesting.”
Sunderland have taken 17 points from their opening nine matches, their best-ever start to a top-flight campaign in the immediate aftermath of winning promotion.
No newly-promoted side has matched their points tally at this stage for more than a decade, but Le Bris insists it is far too early to start reassessing the targets that were set at the start of the campaign.
He is adamant he will not be taking anything for granted, particularly when it comes to tonight’s game against an Everton side led by former Sunderland boss David Moyes. The Toffees are currently 15th in the table, and have won just one of their last seven games in all competitions, but Le Bris has been watching his players closely this week to ensure there is no sign of any complacency creeping in.
“It feels positive, and when you play well, you want to receive positive feedback, but we are still in the same process,” he said. “We want to be tough with our way of playing and we still have to improve to stay competitive in this league.
“So far, we have never shown that we are complacent, which is still possible. The dynamics are still fragile. We know that it is really hard, so I do not want to say it will happen, but we are aware it could.”
As well as Sunderland’s new signings impressing, a number of last season’s squad have excelled since stepping onto the Premier League stage.
Enzo Le Fee has caught the eye repeatedly in midfield, for both his attacking and defensive work, while in the backline, Trai Hume and Dan Ballard have more than handled the step up to the top-flight.
The Northern Irish duo will be hoping to retain their place in tonight’s starting line-up despite Omar Alderete’s anticipated return to the squad, having performed excellently in the win at Stamford Bridge.
“We didn’t know what might happen,” said Le Bris. “With the goal of the season, I did not set a limit because we did not know before. It was a new team, a new squad, a new league.
“If we fixed limits before, it would be dangerous, so for these two players [Hume and Ballard] for example, they are working well. They have many qualities, they want to learn and show they are able to be competitive, but you have to experience it.
“It is still early to stay they can be consistent, but so far they have done well and that is not a surprise for me.”