Match Day Thread Sunderland AFC v Sheffield United – Championship Play-off Final - Saturday 24th May 2025 - KO 15:00

Looks like a decent interview with Mayenda - found by Andy @SAFCsource

It's in French, unfortunately. Can some clever person put it through a translator?

https://www.sofoot.com/articles/pre...avec-sunderland-cest-une-veritable-delivrance

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I've said on here going back to the TM era that they're just a bunch of kids, having a laugh and enjoying going out to play football, just like we all did in the park or back street....they have no fear and learning as they go along.

Long may it continue.

 

The bond in the group is fantastic, you don’t see them going to the same guy. Anyone can bomb anyone to celebrate.

The older heads are also very much part of it, Riggy x LON, Meps going crackers. It’s a beautifully well knit group.

 

Mayenda translation lads…( won’t be perfect as it’s done via iPhone translate)



As in the return semi-finals against Coventry, the scenario of this Premier League accession final was totally crazy. How did you experience it?

It was a roller coaster! There was pressure for everyone, especially at the beginning. Sheffield scores very early in the match, we have Luke O'Nien, our central defender, who unties his shoulder from the 2nd minute... Mentally, we are touched, because he is our leader, who has experienced the most finals at Wembley, especially since it is a youth team in Sunderland. We take time to get into the game, there is this second goal denied. Fortunately, because honestly, it was dead otherwise. But at half-time, Régis Le Bris was calm, he is a coach who never shouts, he transmits confidence, and we came back with better intentions. My goal arrives at an important moment of the game, we start again from the front, then it's madness when Tommy (Tom Watson) scores in extra time. It was incredible, it's the most beautiful emotion of my career!

Your victory allows the Black Cats to return to the Premier League eight years after the club's relegation. It must have been a real deliverance in the city, right?

For everyone! We must not forget that our fans are the ones who have suffered the most from the situation in Sunderland in recent seasons. When we remember that the club was in League One four years ago... There were difficult seasons, last year we were also in a hard time by finishing 16th. This climb is a real deliverance. During the play-offs, it wasn't that they put pressure on us, but we felt that we had to do it for them. Thanks to this victory, the supporters will live a great summer, eight years is a long time. The city needed that.

What's beautiful is that my mother was in the stadium when the audience took up singing in my name in unison.

How was the party after the game?

To be honest, I myself can't tell it because everyone was doing anything. (Raughs.) Personally, I'm calm, I don't go crazy, but as soon as the referee whistled at the end of the game, I went to take my sunglasses. This is my signature since the semi-finals, everyone had talked about a photo where I had them and I was asked to hand them over to Wembley in case of victory. Then, we ran in all directions, the champagne flowed in torrents, we wore the cup in the stands, then it was over, we lost players. (Raughs.) The locker room was a swimming pool. We celebrated that at the hotel, it was a very good time. It's unique, a climb to the Premier League. We tried to celebrate with the supporters, but our bus was blocked in London, there were people everywhere. We took pictures, signed autographs, it was uncontrollable, but above all a lot of happiness.

You really had a song in your name!

The singing, it comes from a supporter who made a video after a game where I had scored. I think he had drunk, that he had consumed. (Raughs.) At first, it was really a little thing, then people started to take it back at the stadium. I remember, the first time it materialised was when I put a double against Sheffield Wednesday away. People are starting to talk about me, and I scored from the first minute against Cardiff at home the next game. We were four or five months after the fan's video, the stadium resumed the singing in unison. The beautiful thing is that my mother was in the stadium. We can't forget it! The lyrics are "Oh big man, what is your name? ", then they say Eliezer Mayenda. Initially, when I arrived from Sochaux, no one knew me or had any information about me. A little one asked me my name, during a video that was taken up. I was not a big transfer, I arrived at the same time as Jobe Bellingham (Jude Bellingham's brother, Editor's note), so obviously, we were not in the same galaxy.

In your team, there are several French people, such as Wilson Isidor, Enzo Le Fée or your coach Régis Le Bris. Did it make your integration easier?

It's mostly in terms of language. Since I am Franco-Spanish, it was immediately easier, especially with the coach, communication was more fluid. During my first season, I spoke English, and there were Pierre Ekwah, Timothée Pembélé and Adil Aouchiche in the locker room. This season, my three languages allowed me to talk to everyone, not just with French speakers. Enzo (The Fairy) or Wilson (Isidor), they have more experience than me, so we talk a lot. On the field, Enzo and Salis (Abdul Samed) put cakes on me, and with Wilson, we almost don't need to talk to each other, we find ourselves with our eyes closed. There was a natural connection with many players. I have developed my game intelligence, which allows me to easily adapt to all profiles.

When I was in college, when we did the gym, there were mats, so I did "RKO" to my classmates in the gym. And I got fired several times for that!

You are a group that seems to live very well too...

Yes, we are all young (average age of 24 years, Editor's note). We have the same interests, the same delusions. It's much easier for group life. And there are still the elders to frame because sometimes, we go a little too far in our nonsense. (Raughs.)

What's your nonsense?

Basically, I'm still stuffed with Chris Rigg, it's a 2007, but he's not well in his head, he's crazy. (Raughs.) He can speak all languages, he has facilities. You can take an inflated balloon, put it under someone's towel, the person sits down and falls. It's little nonsense like that. At first, we don't know who is who, but gradually, the masks fall, and it's the constant war. For example, we have a game where the goal is to throw a pair of socks at someone without them being able to find out who did it. If we get spotted, we have to pay.

Le Bris is also a coach who very quickly gave you his trust, especially because your profile fit perfectly with what he wanted to put in place. How important is it to you?

From the preparation matches, he made me play. He explained to me how he wanted to use me, and above all the coach was very patient with me at the beginning. He let me adapt, especially to his instructions. After that, he is a very offensive coach, so inevitably, it highlighted me, especially since I played in almost all offensive positions, which allowed me to be even more versatile. It was important for him, this ability. I did everything this year to give him back that confidence.

Now, the question that everyone is asking: did Netflix film your exploits?

The problem with this is that we have all seen the series. This was my case before coming to the Black Cats. This year, if we had done a survey before the start of the season to find out who was betting on the fact that Sunderland would go up to the Premier League, there would not have been many people. But I saw cameras at the training centre. Now, we are filmed from time to time, but that doesn't mean it's Netflix. I have no information. After that, there are many images that can be recovered. If it allows you to make it a new season, so much the better, otherwise you have to try to do something.

I was like the others when my parents suffered a lot from the family and financial situation.

Especially since you could be a first choice character with your season and your celebration in tribute to the catcher Randy Orton, who also answered you on social networks. Are you telling us?

Like everyone else, I watched wrestling when I was little on W9 and NT1, there must be only 5% of the population who don't know what it is, we've all watched John Cena or Undertaker. Personally, my favourite was Randy Orton. My friends and those who grew up with me in the Paris region know that I was a little crazy about him. When I was in college, when we did the gym, there were mats, so I did "RKO" (whest wrestling, editor's note) to my classmates in the gym. And I got fired several times for that. (Raughs.) I also did this celebration in Sochaux or in other games. In Sunderland, in a video we made for the club's media, I was asked what celebrity I would dream of meeting and I directly replied Randy Orton. It went viral at the level of the supporters, they absolutely wanted me to do the celebration on Saturday. At first, I didn't even imagine it, but finally when I scored, Patrick Roberts blew in my ear to do it and I couldn't resist. Then, it went too far because Orton made a post with the celebration, we added each other on the networks, and he told me that I could appropriate his gesture.

You were born in Spain before arriving in France at the age of 8, what did this part of your life look like?

I know it's complicated, people often wonder if I speak French or not. Basically, I was born in Spain, my mother is Togolese and my father is Congolese. Basically, I didn't speak French. At home, my parents spoke French among themselves so that we little ones don't understand. It was their technique. I moved to France at the age of 8 for family reasons. My father had found a new job, we had to follow him. We didn't have a fixed apartment at the beginning. It was a very complicated situation at first. I was in a home in Breuillet, in 91. We stayed there for almost three years. I have somewhat blurred memories, but I never felt these family difficulties when I was little, my parents…

 

Big fan of the footnote that Riggy likes winding up the senior pros

Comes across great the big man. Star in the making on and off the park, full of talent, full of personality.

 

good spot

 

Apologies if already posted. Am in tears again this morning

 

This is horrible AI slop lol. "Sundeland"? The way he's "holding" the trophy?

 

The interview cuts off a bit, here's some more:

You were born in Spain before arriving in France at the age of 8, what was that part of your life like?

I know it's complicated, people often wonder if I speak French or not. Basically, I was born in Spain, my mother is Togolese and my father is Congolese. Basically, I didn't speak French. At home, my parents spoke French among themselves so that we little ones wouldn't understand. It was their technique. I moved to France when I was 8 years old for family reasons. My father had found a new job, we had to follow him. We didn't have a fixed apartment at the beginning. It was a very complicated situation at the beginning. I was in a home in Breuillet, in the 91. We stayed there for almost three years. I have a bit of a hazy memory, but I never felt these family difficulties when I was little, my parents always found a way to pay me and my little brothers for our football licenses, without worries. I was like the others while my parents were suffering a lot because of the family and financial situation. I started with three years of football in Breuillet, then at the age of 11 I went to Brétigny, where we found a permanent apartment, then I grew up there. I continued to grow up footballing in Brétigny before leaving for the Sochaux training centre, while my family stayed there.

Wasn't it too hard to acclimatize, especially in terms of the language?

Luckily, I learned very quickly. Since I was small, it was easier. I went to school like the others. At first, I didn't understand anything, it was hard, then everything went well.

What do you have left of your years at Sochaux?

It's the best memory of my youth, it was incredible. I set foot in the perfect training center. I met great people, whether they were the coaches, my teammates, the coaches. When I arrived at the centre, I scored 16 goals in my first five games in the U15s. I fell with the right generation and the right coach, at the right time. I was under the orders of Éric Boniface, we are still in contact, he is the one who allowed me to become the player I am, he framed me. I climbed the ladder, being coached by Pierre-Alain Frau, then I signed professionally at 16, and I made my professional debut in the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France, a Sochaux-Nantes. For the record, at the beginning, Omar Daf made me go up to the pros, when I was already outclassed. Florentin Pogba, who was playing for the Lion Cubs at the time, took me under his wing. I do the whole week with them, and finally I finish in the group for the cup. I came on at the very end of the match and I immediately had a duel with Nicolas Pallois who put me on the ground. I understand straight away that we are no longer in the U19s, and what the high level is. But I don't shy away from it and I elbow him in an aerial duel. He laughed and said, "That's good, kid! »

Isn't it a small regret not to have made a name for yourself in France before going abroad

The regrets I have are especially for the Sochaux supporters. I think I could have given more to Sochaux. I'm happy with my time, but obviously I had a special attachment because it was my training club. After the final at Wembley, I thought about all that a bit. Today, Sochaux is in a difficult situation. There are some similarities with the Black Cats, Sochaux must be a Ligue 1 club!

When you arrive at Sunderland at 18, it's hard, isn't it?

I arrive without a great deal of experience in the professional world. I played a few games, but I got injured very quickly for two months, which slowed down my progress and my adaptation. In the aftermath, the coach in place was sacked, they took a new coach who relied on experience in attack. So I was loaned to Scotland, but even there it was difficult. I learned in training, the new culture, the mentality of the championship. It forged me, it's what allowed me to have such a good season this year (41 games, 10 goals, 5 assists).

You are a very technical and explosive player. How would you describe your game?

I consider myself to be a versatile player. My favourite position is number 9 and I think I'm quite complete in this register. I have power, I'm technical, I have a good intelligence of the game in the movements and rather a good finishing. I also have a good quality of percussion and I'm someone who works a lot on instinct, like the goal I scored against Bristol.

What does this dual Franco-Spanish culture bring you?

I took a little bit of everything, even from England. I've been more aggressive in duels since I've been in the Championship. You have to, otherwise you get eaten. This France-Spain mix makes me the player I am today. I'm instinctive and unpredictable in the French style. I'm also lucky enough to be able to talk to everyone in a dressing room, it's a real gift. I can watch TV in Spanish or French, the same on TikTok. (Laughter.) I also read the press in both countries, which allows me to understand the differences in treatment. It's a particular mix, I have different visions. I take the best of my roots, I've already been told that I have the aggressiveness of an Englishman, the training of a Frenchman and the technique of a Spaniard. I think you can feel it in my game.

Is the next goal the U20 World Cup with Spain?

I'm currently in a meeting with the U20s to prepare for the World Cup. I'm operational, even for the Euro U21, I'm still at the disposal of the federation.

With your performances this season, you're bound to be in demand. Have you already started thinking about your future?

You are not the first to ask me the question, even my friends tell me about it. I just went up to the Premier League on Saturday, I just want to savour it. I'm really happy at Sunderland.

So, what is your holiday destination? France, England or Spain?

I'll see tomorrow at the end of the gathering. Now, honestly, I don't know at all yet. (Laughter.)

 

Never knew that Ric Flair was a MLF

 

Love the clinical ‘**** off’ when asked about moving on.

Seems a really smart kid, the words about Sochaux show a really thoughtful and appreciative guy.

We know he will go, but we hopefully get couple more years of him.

 

dafabet as sponsor

its AI after all

 

I think I have only ever posted on one or two match threads when the game is on, find it best to just leave them alone

 

The last few years have been an absolute joy. Will always treasure it. Don't know what future will bring, at moment find it hard to imagine keeping that connection with club and players if they become established PL. But who knows. Regardless, great memories from KLD regime. Will stay with me forever.

 

He did make one big mistake but ended up to our advantage when Roberts was fouled, linesman flaged but ref played on.

 

'....not just with French speakers. Enzo (The Fairy) or Wilson (Isidor), they have more experience than me, so we talk a lot...'

The auto translate translating Le Fee's surname made me raugh...

 

Raugh is my new favourite word - a raucous laugh!

 

Enzo Le Tinkerbell

 

Latest club video of Wilson pointing to the SkyBet badge on sleeve and going ‘no’ is a Belta.

 

At last I got summat right