The Sunderland head coach gave an honest verdict following the draw with Everton at the Stadium of Light
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has made his feelings clear following the draw with Everton.
View Image
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris admitted that Everton made the stronger start to game in the 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light on Monday night.
Iliman Ndiaye capitalised on a frantic start to the game to give David Moyes' side a deserved lead after just 15 minutes. The Toffees could, and should have had a two goal cushion going in at the half-time interval but Thierno Barry squandered a golden opportunity at the back post, blazing high and wide with the goal at his mercy after a good ball in from Jack Grealish.
That miss seemed to spark Sunderland into life who ended the first-half the stronger of the two sides and came out the blocks quickly in the second 45 with Granit Xhaka equalising just a minute after the restart.
The Black Cats' skipper was head and shoulders above any other player on the pitch and fully deserving of his goal, even if it did take a wicked deflection on its way past Jordan Pickford in the Everton goal.
Sunderland huffed and puffed and looked the team most likely to score, but they weren't able to break the deadlock.
"Yes, we didn't start well, or the opponents started really well, they were better than us, they were dominant," Le Bris said in his post-match press conference.
“We were not composed on the ball and we turned the ball over many times, so it was like we fed their dynamic, because they like spaces, they like counter-attacks, they like 1v1s, Grealish, Ndiaye... they are really good when they have space to exploit, and because of our turnovers it was possible to do that.
"Later in the game I think we were more composed and we dominated the game, but these first 30 minutes were not at the level of the Premier League.
"I think it was connected with the game plan, we didn't find out something new, it was just a question of doing, and sometimes you can understand where are the spaces, how you can manage the build-up, the progression phase and so on, but it's much harder to do it on the pitch, so it was a question of quality at that minute, but we switched on a bit later and we are back in the game.
"What I can say is that Everton worked hard the first part of the game, they defended well, they ran everywhere and it was tough to break this pressure, so it's a question now of level, we have to lift this part of our game, but I think we have this quality, but we are still a really young team, so we need experiences and with back and forth we will improve our level."
The Sunderland boss was pressed to see whether his overall feeling was one of disappointment given the second half display, and said: "Not really, because I think this league is so tough, it's a good reminder of how hard it is to win a single point in that league,” he said.
"We started really well, so we might forget that we are still a promoted team, with young lads, not experienced and so on, so it's a good point to be fair."
Make sure you don't miss out on the latest SAFC news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day's biggest stories.