Sunderland: Are they title contenders? Can Sunderland join the title race and win Premier League?
Srećko Šijaković 
Months are passing, and we are seeing Sunderland playing very great football and improving their game plan with very great defending, good positioning, and compact defending, a very strong and quality midfield with great players and very sharp players in the attack.
They are growing and improving match by match in the league, improving their performances, responding very well to challenges, and are in a very great position at the moment. They are playing football at a very high level, with a good team and players involved.
Le Bris system fits the players very well.
When we speak about Sunderland, we are speaking of the team that has been promoted to the Premier League this season after being behind Burnley and Leeds United in last season’s Championship campaign.
They have come from the Championship after finishing in a play-out position, also behind Sheffield United after playing the league fixtures, and have achieved victory in the play-offs, securing the Premier League for this season.
This season’s statistics in the Premier League are saying they are the best team that has secured promotion to the Premier League in seventeen years.
Sunderland has earned everything they have now; they promoted in the play-off, have been growing strongly since the season started, they are playing great football with good structure, and have achieved a very great number of points in the season.
Le Bris, the French coach who coached Lorinet, leads the project
They have achieved much since the season began, have improved individually and collectively with hard work, and have played good football on the pitch.
The French coach Regis Le Bris, who had been leading Lorient’s second team for seven years before starting his career as a first-team coach at Lorient, has been at Sunderland since the summer of 2024.
The team has been constructed very well, with strong goalkeepers in Roef and Patterson, and Ballard and Alderete as the central defenders. With Mandava starting to give a big impact at the left-back position and being included in the offense, becoming the star of the Premier League.
They are using Geertruida very wisely in the defense; the new player signed on a loan, and Leipzig, with Hume, is also playing very well, particularly in defense. Their defense game is based on good clearance, positioning, and well-predicting and anticipating the game.
With very great Enzo Le Fée at midfield, the summer acquisition from Roma, Xhaka, a very experienced player with experience in the Premier League as a former Arsenal midfielder, and also Chris Rigg, a very young and promising player.
With fantastic strikers, each can provide much: Adingra, Idior, Brobbey, Meyenda— we can say this team can be dangerous for any Premier League team.
The project has shown much already, being able to catch fourth position in the Premier League. This team can do even better this season, and their goals are now much bigger and more realistic than they have been in the past.
They are not in this position because they have won a few wins and made them fourth in the league for a week or two; no, they are here because they are a great team that plays very great and compact football since the start of the season. They deserve much more credit and respect than they are currently getting from the fans.
So we will watch a very great Sunderland in the months to follow; they will develop their game even more and start being unstoppable for opponents in the league. It will be hard to stop this Sunderland team. If their rhythm and form retain and become even greater in December and beyond, we will easily see Sunderland as serious title contenders.
Sunderland’s achievements so far in this Premier League season
With overplaying Chelsea in the Premier League in a good and efficient manner, avoiding losing matches and big defeats from lower sides, and being the only team to stop Arsenal’s impressive run and streak, this Sunderland team should be considered as a much stronger and greater team than people give them credit for.
They should be respected much more and have more coverage, and gain much more respect from the fans and even some media. Because this team is much better than they know, see, and acknowledge.
S.Šijaković
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