A rarely-seen Sunderland board member was in attendance at the club’s pre-season clash vs Nottingham Forest.
Sunderland are in Spain for part of their pre-season preparations under new head coach Regis Le Bris.
So far this summer, the Black Cats have played two friendlies; beating South Shields 5-0 and then losing 2-1 to Gateshead.
In Spain, Sunderland play two friendlies. The first took place on Friday with the Black Cats facing Premier League Nottingham Forest.
The Black Cats drew 1-1 with Jack Clarke coring from the spot as he did against Gateshead previously.
Le Bris named a strong XI and made a number of changes on the 70th minute mark.
Up next for Sunderland is a friendly match vs Eldense in Spain before the first-team squad returns to England for final friendly fixtures vs Blackpool and Bradford City.
For the game vs Nottingham Forest though, Sunderland co-owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus along with twin brother Maurice, and fellow co-owner Juan Sartori.
Juan Sartori spotted at Sunderland vs Nottingham Forest clash
Sartori is the lessen-seen half of the current Sunderland ownership, with Kyril Luis-Dreyfus very much the face of the clubs hierarchy.
Sartori has been with the club since 2018 when he was part of the Madrox ownership group at the time, later staying on board when Louis-Dreyfus first arrived at the Stadium of Light in 2021.
Sartori is rarely-seen by Sunderland fans. But journalist Phil Smith revealed on X that Sartori and the Louis-Dreyfus brothers were in attendance at Sunderland’s game vs Nottingham Forest.
Dan Neil praises Regis Le Bris Sunderland tactics
After the loss to Gateshead, goalscorer Clarke admitted that the tactics had ‘been difficult so far and it didn’t quite come off’ as they were undone 2-1 against National League opposition.
However, the Sunderland ranks seem to now be warming up to Le Bris’ style of play, with Neil praising the Frenchman’s set-up.
Speaking in a post-match interview to Sunderland on X, he said: “The friendlies last week were good and we’ve stepped up this week. There are still little things we can tweak in terms of the tactical side but, all in all, it was a good run out.
“We’ve been working really hard on it (tactics). The gaffer has got a way of playing that he wants us to play, no matter who it’s against, and we’re trying to implement it every single day, whether that’s in possession or out of possession and that was a good way to test it against a really good opposition.
“It’s going to stand us in good stead going into the rest of pre-season and the start of the season.”
Speakman bringing in players to meet Regis Le Bris’ style of play will be crucial for Sunderland
In Le Bris’ first season as first team coach at Lorient, he was able to implement his style of play with massive success, leading the French outfit to an impressive 10th place finish.
He struggled in his second season, however the players weren’t at his disposal to be able to implement his tactics correctly, and as a result it massively hindered results.
Simply put, Sunderland will need a few more players before the summer window closes in order to give Le Bris the chance to play his own style with players that he knows fit the mould.
The Frenchman’s tactics of high-pressing from the off and 100% intensity is perfect for the Championship and was something that was so clearly not evident last season, one of the catalogue of issues that the players encountered in the 2023/24 season.
Providing that Speakman backs Le Bris, then they could be on for a positive season, especially with the tactics beginning to stick already this early in pre-season.
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