Sunderland's start to the season has been a stark contrast to last year, when they flew out of the traps on their Premier League return and went months without a home league defeat. This time around they sit bottom of the table with four points from seven games. The additional load of European football, something the club hasn't experienced in over 50 years, was always going to be tough to handle.
The performance at Bournemouth on Sunday, coming just after an away Europa League clash in Portugal, was littered with mistakes and individual errors. Defender Nordi Mukiele suggested post-match that the team had become "arrogant", a word choice that felt wrong. The reporter does not detect that mindset, but the schedule, both mentally and physically, is clearly having an effect.
The absence of strikers Brian Brobbey and Wilson Isidor through early-season injuries has left the untested Timur Tutyerov leading the line in the last two games, which was not part of the plan. Sunderland need to return to the basics that made them so hard to beat last season. They lost just four games at the Stadium of Light across that entire campaign. The 2-0 loss to 10-man Brighton has sent alarm bells ringing, though the reporter fully expects them to rediscover their solid foundations on Wearside.
The club also faced a frustrating summer window. Sporting director Florent Ghisolfi struggled to get signings over the line, and owner Kyril Louis Dreyfus had to fly to Lyon to convince Malick Fofana to choose Sunderland over Crystal Palace with just hours of the window remaining.
Source: Sky Sports Champions League · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing