The Black Cats ended a three-match winless run at the Stadium of Light as Nordi Mukiele’s deflected second-half strike piled further pressure on a Spurs side who find themselves struggling in the bottom three.
Sunderland, on the other hand, are closing in on the European places, with their latest victory having lifted them to tenth position in the table, just one point behind seventh-placed Brentford.
The Wearsiders were the better side throughout as they ruined Roberto de Zerbi’s first game as Spurs boss, but while Le Bris was generally content with his team’s performance, he is still hoping to see further progress in attack before the end of the campaign.
“We were often in the final third today, which is good,” said the Sunderland boss. “But after that, in the final third, you have to manage the last choice and last pass and we still have room for improvement.
“If we had been a bit more clinical, and it’s not just the final action but also the action before, then I think this game would probably have been a bit easier to manage.
“We still have a young squad. They are intense, with strong energy, but now it’s a question of execution. The last choice, the last pass, probably the presence in the box as well, we still have room for improvement, but we are working hard behind the scenes. It’s about small adjustments, but small adjustments at this level make the difference.”
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De Zerbi’s appointment as Spurs boss affected Le Bris’ preparations for today’s game, with the former Brighton head coach having a reputation for playing possession-based attacking football.
There was little evidence of that as Tottenham failed to trouble Robin Roefs before Pedro Porro fired in a stoppage-time strike that was tipped over, with Le Bris having been impressed by his side’s ability to deal with everything their opponents threw at them.
“We had two or three main objectives today and the first one was to be adaptive because it was hard to anticipate their patterns, their shape,” said Le Bris.
“But it was also about being proactive defensively and, if it was possible, to generate early momentum with the ball. I think that was key for this game.
“Probably the first 15 minutes were a bit sloppy, we lost three, four, five balls without pressure, but after that I think we were good.”