Why keeping the core of their squad will be important for Sunderland

National World - LocalTV

Daniel Wales and James Copley discuss why Sunderland must maintain a certain group of players within their squad.

Transcript

00:00Now Sunderland are well within the midst of their preparations for the upcoming Premier League season,

00:05which gets underway in mid-August, but just how important is it for Regis Labrise, the head coach,

00:10to maintain squad harmony and keep together what is a settled core of players

00:15and have gone on this journey with Sunderland all the way from League One through to the Championship

00:20and now to the Premier League. I'm talking about the likes of Luke O'Neill, Dennis Sirkin,

00:24Dan Neill, Trey Hulme and Anthony Patterson, of course.

00:28Obviously Regis Labrise only came in in the last season, but I think he understood

00:31that this group of players who have been on this journey is really important to the whole group

00:36and indeed the club itself. Yes, they'll add new players this summer

00:40and of course they had new players coming in last season as well, which helped them on their way,

00:44but I think it's important that this group of players stays together

00:48and Regis Labrise is the glue that holds them together as well, as well as of course leaders within the group too.

00:53So let's go now to James Copley of the Sunderland Echo.

00:57So James, bridging on what I've just said there, just how important is it that each group of players

01:02does stay together and does maintain this morale within the squad,

01:06but also when you've got players coming in, like Enzo Le Fay, of course,

01:09who was part of the squad last season but now has joined on a permanent,

01:13as well as others who may come into the squad later on in the transfer window,

01:16just how important is it that they settle in and hopefully have good seasons at the Stadium of Light?

01:21Yeah, I think it's really important you have a group of players that understand the club.

01:26I think there's six of those players that have been with Sunderland from League One

01:31to the Premier League in terms of being double promotion.

01:34A couple of those are homegrown as well, so I think it's really become a key foundation

01:39and ethos of the club really to have players that represent them for a long time

01:44that come up through the academy or that are both young

01:46and then come up through the Sunderland system.

01:49It'll help Labrise, obviously you'll have dressing room leaders.

01:51As you mentioned, Sunderland will need to strengthen

01:53because the Premier League's a different beast in terms,

01:57in comparison to the Championship, but I think you don't want to rip it up too much, do you?

02:03We've seen it time and time again that teams get promoted from the Championship

02:07and they rip the whole thing up and it can cause a lot of problems

02:11in terms of tactical familiarity, all of that sort of stuff.

02:15So I do think there are benefits in keeping a lot of the players

02:20that win your promotion at the club.

02:21I think what Sunderland have going for them as well

02:24is that a lot of those players in that core group that you mentioned

02:28are actually fairly still quite young.

02:29I mean, Luke O'9 is the oldest by a distance at 30 years old.

02:32The rest of them really have got room to grow.

02:35You know, Anthony Patterson, I think, is 24.

02:36Dan Neill, 23.

02:38Dennis Sirkin, 21, 22.

02:40You know, Chris Riggs floating around there, 17 years old.

02:43So you would hope, I mean, Trey Hulme, I think, is 22 or 23.

02:46You would hope a lot of these players that stay at the club,

02:49you know, have the potential to grow in the Premier League and adapt as well.

02:52So I think on that front, I think there's a lot to be excited about, actually.

02:57I'm really interested by Enzo Lafay and in Enzo Lafay.

03:01I think when he came to the club, we were obviously hugely excited

03:04given the potential transfer fee, where he was coming from as pedigree.

03:08Then injuries meant he played out on the left-hand side and did very well there,

03:11but we were all sort of clamouring to see him in the middle.

03:14And when he's played in the middle, he's contributed for Sunderland

03:17in terms of assists during the playoff campaign.

03:22But we haven't really worked out his best midfield role yet.

03:25We thought it would be sort of as a number 10, but in the final,

03:29it was when he dropped back that actually started to make things happen

03:31in a more number six position. So I'm hugely excited to see

03:35sort of what happens with him, where he goes, where he ends up playing.

03:38I think it's a great deal to get that over the line.

03:41It gives everybody a boost. Obviously, it was mandated when Sunderland won

03:45promotion to the Premier League that Enzo Lafay would stay,

03:47but I think it's a really shrewd piece of business.

03:50Again, he's another player with room to grow.

03:53I think he's around the 24, 25 mark.

03:55He's got that experience of playing in Europe, but he's got pedigree.

03:58And I think it's a little bit of a coup, but you'll need to see sort of three

04:04or four more of those types of players.

04:07But yeah, hugely excited by him because he made such an impact in such a short period

04:13of time at Sunderland when he picked up an injury as well, playing in multiple

04:17different positions, multiple different roles, and he still managed to contribute.

04:21And I think you're right to point out that the Premier League perhaps might be more suited

04:24to him in terms of, you know, the ball is on the floor a little bit more.

04:28The build-up is a little bit more patient.

04:30I think the championship does go sort of end-to-end, back-to-front a little quicker.

04:35That's not to say that Premier League clubs won't counter-attack you because they will

04:38and it can be deadly.

04:40But yeah, I think Enzo Lafay is certainly a Premier League player for me.

04:43I think it's a little bit more, but I think it's a little bit more, but it's a little bit more.

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