No one gives Lorient a chance against the runaway Ligue 1 leaders. Yet by the time the final whistle blows in the French capital, Le Bris’ side have finished as 3-1 winners with Le Fee opening the scoring.
Sometimes, in football, it is best to expect the unexpected. So, while Sunderland will start this afternoon’s game against Premier League leaders Arsenal as massive underdogs, their head coach knows nothing is impossible.
“Every story is different, but that game shows that even if you are not favourites, you can work against the odds,” said Le Bris. “It is still possible.
“That is our pathway. We have to show we always have to break [new ground]. So far, we have done it, so why not again?”
Why not indeed, although the scale of the task facing Le Bris and his players tomorrow is arguably even greater than the one he encountered while with Lorient two-and-a-half years ago.
Arsenal are six points clear at the top of the Premier League table, having won eight of their opening ten league games. They are second in the Champions League standings, level on points with Bayern Munich, having claimed their latest European victory away at Slavia Prague.
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Defensively, they are pretty much impregnable, having conceded just three league goals all season, the most recent of which was scored in September. Remarkably, in their last four Premier League games, the Gunners have conceded just one shot on target.
The season is not yet halfway through, and warranted or not, Arsenal have developed a reputation for choking at the business end of a season. Right now, though, there is a compelling case of evidence that suggests they are best club side in Europe, if not the whole of the world.
“They [Arsenal] are a really strong side,” said Le Bris. “They are well coached, with really top-quality players. They have great experience and great ambition too. It will be a big challenge for us.
“I think they are so well-balanced. They have everything at the minute, so that makes it much harder to challenge them. I think it’s a long project, and progressively they have built different layers, to be so balanced and so composed. They are so well organised as well. They are just a very, very good team.”
And that’s before we get to set-pieces. Sunderland have enjoyed some notable successes from set-pieces this season, most notably when Omar Alderete scored his winner at Nottingham Forest and Nordi Mukiele’s long throw caused chaos against Chelsea, enabling Wilson Isidor to score.
Arsenal’s prowess is on a different level though, particularly when it comes to scoring from corners. Everyone knows Declan Rice is going to deliver a pinpoint ball curling into the middle. Everyone knows Gabriel will be forcing himself ahead of his marker to head home. Knowing what is going to happen is one thing, though. Stopping it is quite another.
“We have spent a bit more time on defending set-pieces this week,” said Le bris. “Although we spend a lot of time working on set-pieces every week anyway. They are so important in the Premier League.
“Arsenal are really impressive at them. They have different options, although they often use the same one and they succeed with it. Their delivery is excellent, and their set-up is like a ballet, with very specific attention to details.
“They have gained confidence because of how successful they have been with them, so that means any team coming up against them can struggle and can be a bit afraid about this strength. It is a good challenge for us. We need to meet that challenge.”
Sunderland will, at least, be able to call on the services of Granit Xhaka, the former Arsenal skipper who Mikel Arteta claimed had “footballing superpowers” earlier this week.
“We spoke this week about his leadership, and we agreed that one of the main strengths of a leader is to create other leaders,” said Le Bris. “He is doing this every day.
“You can set the standards, but you know if you are the only leader on the pitch for the full season, it’s not sustainable. He has this maturity now. It’s not always obvious, you meet great players and sometimes they are a bit selfish. It’s not easy to have this full view, but that is the case for Granit.”