More broadly, Le Bris says it is something he is confident can improve in time and that he feels a lack of stability and consistency in key partnership across the pitch has impacted. The Sunderland head coach is proud of the platform his side have built defensively but knows they need more on the ball in the long run.

“We had a good conversation with Granit this week, because he’s really experienced,” Le Bris said

“We spoke about the different areas that we are developing now. So out of possession at Leeds and Bournemouth we were excellent, the way we pressed the opponent, our mid-block was good, our deep block was good. We repeated this season this kind of performances out of possession.

“Our build-up is getting better as well and the progression phase is clear when we have our key players, because it’s always connected. But the final attacking third is the most difficult, and here we have good principles with our triangles, our wide triangles, for example, but they haven’t played a lot together because we changed often. The triangles on the left, for example, we had Rei sometimes with Enzo and Noah, then Rei and Noah went to AFCON.

“So this flow is hard to achieve and when we change everything and often it’s hard to find the right balance. It was the same on the right side. We started with Bertrand, a mature player, we had Nordi and we thought we would have Habib, but then Habib was injured. So we didn’t have great consistency in those relationships, and that helps. And then our three strikers have different style of play so we struggled to find consistency as well. It’s an ongoing process and we want to get better and find solutions.”

Le Bris also wants to see more across the board from an attacking sense, with the significant set piece threat from the early stages of the season having declined of late.

“It’s obviously a concern because we want to improve every area, and this is not the best one for sure,” Le Bris said.

“But it’s not only about the attacking players, it’s about the squad. You can score on set-pieces as well and this has not been the case in recent weeks. The midfielders can score because they can shoot from outside the box, for example. It’s a full process and it’s not only one responsibility of one player, it’s about the full squad.”

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Le Bris’s telling response to Brighton question

Le Bris also gave a telling insight into his thinking when asked about the Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler criticising Arsenal’s style of play this season, and whether he thought it was fair and something Sunderland could try and capitalise on.

“Hard to say, to be fair,” Le Bris said.

“Every club has its own identity, its own ambition, its own players, its own style of play. I think you have to respect that. After that, it’s important to focus on your style, your identity, connected with your club, with your region, your fans. After that, it’s hard to complain about anything from the opponent. For me, it’s not my style, so it’s hard to say. It is a journey. You can’t start from the first season in the Premier League with everything in your luggage.

“You have to build progressively. It starts often with the defensive side, because you want to protect your goal. Otherwise, if you start with three nil down, two nil down, it’s so difficult to win points. Then, the style of play depends on the players you have, because they bring those qualities on the pitch. It’s possible to be a bit more pass-orientated or a bit more spaces-orientated, depending on the players you have on the pitch.”