Sunderland drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest in their latest pre-season friendly at the Pinatar Arena on Friday evening.
Phil Smith is out in Spain reporting on all the action and here, he talks you through some of the things he learned from the game…
In his first press conference, The Echo asked Regis Le Bris whether he had a sense of where he wanted Jobe Bellingham to play or whether that would develop over time. Le Bris said he already had a clear idea, but that we’d have to wait until the two had spoken privately before he shared it with us.
In these early pre-season games, Jobe has had a very defined role and one that he now seems certain to start the Championship campaign in. He’s operating primarily as the ten, but is a key player in the way Le Bris wants his team to transition from defence to attack. Off the ball he pushes right up to get alongside the striker, adding another player to press the opposition defence as high as possible. In attack, he can either drop deep to link the play and make a 4-3-3, or burst beyond into the channels. If there was one frustration on Friday night it was that he didn’t break the box given that eye for goal he’s shown, but the searing heat and strong opposition were obviously a key part of that.
