Regis Le Bris' conversation with Eliezer Mayenda https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/s...bris-sunderland-conversation-eliezer-mayenda/ REGIS Le Bris sat down with Eliezer Mayenda on Monday morning and told the teenager just how impressed he was by the way he adapted to his new Sunderland role at Millwall. With Sunderland's squad depleted for Saturday's trip to the capital, Le Bris was forced to shuffle his pack and started Mayenda at right-wing.... "Eliezer played as a right winger and I spoke with him this morning about it," said Le Bris. "I said that I had no expectations about him before the game because we didn't know how he would do, and he did very well." Mayenda will almost certainly drop out of the side for West Brom's visit to the Stadium of Light, with Patrick Roberts available again after the first choice right-winger served his one-match ban at Millwall. But Le Bris learnt plenty from Saturday's trip to the Den, where he was forced to think outside the box. He said: "It is good for me. Sometimes when you have fewer players, it can force you to be creative. In that situation the players can find out new layers about the game and it was really the case here. "When I spoke to Eliezer this morning I said that I did not expect too much because I knew this was new. He played very well as a real winger. There are many things to improve, distances out of possession, the triggers [for pressing] and so on but the way he played against Millwall, a good team and especially away, it was impressive. "These were tough conditions but it created an opportunity to find something new. It can be like this with young players, you think you are struggling a lot but you can discover something new and it's really enjoyable for me." Another player who impressed Le Bris in a new role was Aaron Connolly, who played in a deeper attacking role at Millwall and fired Sunderland in front with his first goal for the club. That both are comfortable in slightly different positions is a crucial discovery for Le Bris, who knows he'll need depth and options as the season progresses. Le Bris said: "Aaron showed he can play as a 10. We played a very good game in the first half and this is good for the depth of the squad. "We know we need 16 or 17 players able to play and make an impact as a substitute. We would have liked to have won more games [recently] but I think for our process, we are heading in the right direction." Dennis Cirkin is again expected to miss Tuesday's West Brom game, with Aji Alese set to continue at left-back. But Jobe Bellingham and Trai Hume join Roberts in being available to return. Leo Hjelde and Nazariy Rusyn have also shaken off the niggles that forced them to miss Millwall.
Jobe may not feature tonight as he is on 4 yellows. So are Rigg & Mepham. I’d rather we had all available for Friday which will be game 18. Game 19 is when yellows are reset, at home to Stoke. interesting to see how tactical Regis gets with this. Jobe will be the biggest miss as we have no like for like replacement. We need at least one new dynamic midfielder coming in this January , ready made to go. Having big doubts we’ll ever see Samed and Brown will take a while to come back.
Imagine if Meslier didn’t make that howler? We’d now be 3 points behind Leeds Its all ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’
I’ll back you for that formation. Brom and Sunderland been drawing loads so it stands to reason we will win 2-0 tonight
I don't place total faith in this "being schooled" dialogue , it can't be challenged yet as we on the outside can only go on what we see , and so far it has to be said its been terrific . If the current blip continues un addressed however the "being schooled" theory wont wash.
Mepham I understand because he’s a CB but Jobe should be more than capable of going out and not getting booked.
We'll see mate. As I say,I have no inside knowledge,but I see young players with obvious skills and talent,who are not being selected,which suggests they're not considered ready.
I'd be going with our strongest team tonight, I'd argue tonight is more important. Have to win our home games and if some of them are missing against Sheff Utd then so be it 3 points tonight is a must to just get some momentum back, plus open up a bigger gap to WBA I think it'll be a draw tonight, 2 teams that are hard to beat
Jobe and Hume definitely, I also want to see Mayenda, Watson, Connelly Roberts and an other involved at some stage or other, its time to give opportunities to more than the favoured few, looking long term imo .