It was one of the sensations of last season on the other side of the Channel. For its return to the elite, Sunderland achieved an astonishing number, finishing 7th in the Premier League, under the orders of its French coach Régis Le Bris, thanks to a successful transfer window (Xhaka, Le Fée, Brobbey, Mukiele, Reinildo among others). But this season, the sauce is not taking. Beaten 2-0 on Sunday by Bournemouth, Sunderland are 19th in the Premier League, with 4 points in 7 days, just ahead of Tottenham.
Where has last year’s amazing team gone? However, the players remained, which was the big challenge of the Black Cats’ summer transfer window, attacked on several players, notably Xhaka and Brobbey. Summer recruitment does not help, like a cataclysmic Kevin Danso against Bournemouth yesterday, guilty of the first goal and sent off in the 17th minute. Something broke, and it was Nordi Mukiele, the former PSG defender, who delivered a brutal verdict.
Mukiele’s clear opinion
“I think this game reflects exactly what we have been facing since the start of the season. We are not good enough. For what ? I don’t know. Maybe because we have become arrogant, that’s what I think.”he coldly blurted out Sky Sports. Penalized by a defense at bay, like Alderete also at fault on the second goal conceded, Sunderland is struggling to find its soul, as if satiated by past successes. “It depends on what we really want, and it starts in training because we don’t do enough, and then you can see it on the pitch. You can’t lie about football and today, I don’t want to say we didn’t want to win this game, but it didn’t feel like we wanted anything. We just have to work hard to get back to where we were last season, because right now it’s not us, it’s not Sunderland.”concluded Mukiele, the strongest defender of the match.
If Mukiele therefore targets a lack of daily commitment and arrogant behavior, it must also be remembered that the schedule has proven to be quite busy for the Black Cats, who must digest the additional load of the Europa League. A competition where things went rather well with two victories in two matches. The Premier League journey has also been strewn with pitfalls with matches against Manchester City, Arsenal and in-form teams like Brighton and Brentford. Not threatened unlike his compatriot Pierre Sage, Régis Le Bris has accumulated enough credit to have the time necessary for a recovery.
