RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND - AUGUST 15: Trai Hume of Sunderland celebrates scoring his team’s second goal with teammates Enzo Le Fee (L) and Reinildo Mandava (R) during the pre-season friendly match between Sunderland and Stade Rennais at Stadium of Light on August 15, 2026 in Sunderland, England. (Photo by Ed Sykes/Getty Images) | Getty Images
David Elliott says…
A strong outing for Reinildo
The left side looked very strong with Reinildo impressing throughout.
He also looked a threat going forward and was denied a goal by a fine save.
Luke O’Nien shows his class once again
O’Nien was solid and has an excellent range of passing that shows some great vision.
A slightly sluggish start
On the downside, it does seem to take us a while to wake up and get with the pace of the match.
Rennes were tidy, pressed well and had a few opportunities without ever carving us open, though.
Take a few more shots on, lads!
The most frustrating thing for me is our unwillingness to take on a shot when well placed.
We seem to want to take another touch every time instead of just shooting. Both Brian Brobbey and Enzo Le Fée were guilty of this, which is crazy given how well Enzo can strike a ball.
Overall though, it was an enjoyable match. Great to be back in the stadium and special to say “au revoir” to the Big Man.
Mark Ryan says…
Sunderland’s lefties look the part!
The left side looked phenomenal in the first half, and Reinildo and Chemsdine Talbi combined well throughout the half, in particular when the Moroccan backheeled the left back into space for a phenomenal chance.
Dayann Méthalie is going to have his hands full pushing Reinildo out, and Luke O’Nien continues to show his improvement. He played well defensively and pinged long diagonal after diagonal to kickstart attacks.
Some good Lads’ set pieces
Our free kicks were really dangerous.
Granit Xhaka had two or three that were placed perfectly in the first half from the left side. Enzo Le Fée had his own good delivery started the chair creation that led to Hume’s go-ahead goal, and Romaine Mundle rattled the post from a free kick as well.
We started strongly on set pieces last season and we need to be a consistent threat throughout this season.
Corner kicks…to go short or straight into the box?
That said, please stop with the short corners.
We’ve got two players who can consistently put a ball on a plate from a dead ball (and I bet Trai Hume and Chris Rigg could do similar if given a chance), so why do we insist on messing about?
One or two pressing issues for Sunderland?
It improved as the game wore on, but we had trouble with Rennes’ active pressing in the first half.
The pink shirts were buzzing around and it seemed Sunderland weren’t quite ready for it.
It got better after the penalty but we need to match opponents’ energy from the start, especially at what promises to be a hopping Portman Road next weekend.
Matt Smith says…
Full back threats
As well as Trai Hume following up his header against Lens with a composed finish into the bottom corner, Reinildo offered an attacking outlet and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself.
A first half drilled effort across goal was denied by an outstretched foot whilst in the second half he threw himself wholeheartedly to attack a cross, only to see it fly narrowly past the post.
Maybe news of Dayann Méthalie’s imminent arrival inspired his efforts in which case competition for places can only be a good thing.
“Let’s get ready to Mundle!”
With Romaine Mundle’s future at the club recently looking uncertain, confidence low and seemingly well down the left wing pecking order, recent talks over a new contact seem to have injected a generous shot of confidence.
Displaying quick feet and no shortage of skill, he took on opposition defenders at will and was probably our best attacking outlet on the flank. He also thundered a free kick against the bar to add a much-needed extra dimension to our threat.
He’s definitely put himself back in the frame with that cameo.
Reticence in front of goal?
It seems churlish to bemoan finishing after scoring a couple against a top half Ligue 1 side, but we looked a bit rusty when it comes to finishing open play chances.
Brian Brobbey should’ve finished his one-on-one with the keeper but made up for it with characteristic brute strength in flooring the covering defender, and Enzo Le Fée should’ve got a shot away rather than turning into traffic.
Defensive injuries
Scraping the barrel here, but Thomas Meunier being out injured after an impressive debut last week means we’re an injury to Dan Ballard away from a mini-defensive crisis.
The Méthalie signing is timely and in all honesty, we look solid enough even without Nordi Mukiele and Omar Alderete.
Nic Wiseman says…
Two Ligue 1 opponents and two victories
To beat the second and sixth-place finishers of last season’s French Ligue 1 is no mean feat.
It reminds me of playing Marseille two years ago and achieving a credible 2-2 in Bradford.That was Régis Le Bris’ first pre-season — and what a season was to come.
A good performance and a transfer breakthrough!
We looked fully in control throughout and look fully prepared for the season to come.
The second half was a step up and then some. We felt Brian Brobbey’s equaliser was bound to be chalked off as he looked to have committed murder in the penalty area, but the referee was lenient and the goal stood.
The rest of the half saw us rain goal-bound attempts onto Rennes’ goal and a Romaine Mundle bar-rattler before Trai Hume got the winner.
Another heartening thing was a HERE WE GO announcement from the Italian ’journalist’ that a verbal agreement for Dayann Méthalie had been reached. It was great to see lots of smiling faces and a cracking third kit on display.
Some first half errors
The first half was a bit disjointed and a soft penalty given away by big Dan Ballard was a harsh reflection on the first half.
Si...
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