RECRUITMENT EXPLAINED

Sunderland's recruitment this summer has been a hot topic for discussion this season. Not only were we one of the busiest teams in the world, we've also managed to bed them into the squad effortlessly which is no easy task, just ask Liverpool... Regis Le Bris discussed how he and his team tackled the challenge of bedding in all the new faces and why everything has gelled together so quickly.

ANALYSING BEHAVIOUR

“Getting the right characters is really important in the recruitment process,. 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."

KEY BEHAVIOUS TRAITS

“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. 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."

NO COMPLACENCY

“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. We didn’t know what might happen. 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.”