Sunderland told they’ve done something ‘unbelievable’ after starting this season at a disadvantage

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Sunderland’s fantastic start to the season has been hailed by none other than former Middlesbrough manager Michael Carrick, who suggested the Black Cats have done incredibly well to step up from the Championship in the manner they have.

Regis Le Bris masterminded his side’s fifth win of the season with a 2-1 triumph at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. That victory takes Sunderland up to fourth place in the Premier League table now.

No one could have predicted the Black Cats would be soaring so high so soon, but it’s refreshing to see a newly-promoted team performing this way.

It already looks like Sunderland can survive relegation this season. In fact, they look capable of really mixing it with the big boys in the upper echelons of the league table, and Carrick can’t believe they’ve been able to get up to the speed of the top flight so quickly.

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Championship play-offs slowed Sunderland down but they’re still flying

Despite his links to local rivals Middlesbrough, Michael Carrick had no problem heaping praise on Sunderland in a recent appearance on Match of the Day.

And, the former Man United midfielder claimed that Sunderland should be given even more credit for the fact they came up through the play-offs and lost time in their summer preparations.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	ArsenalArsenal	9	7	1	1	16	3	13	22
2	BournemouthBournemouth	9	5	3	1	16	11	5	18
3	TottenhamTottenham	9	5	2	2	17	7	10	17
4	SunderlandSunderland	9	5	2	2	11	7	4	17
5	Manchester CityManchester City	9	5	1	3	17	7	10	16
6	Manchester UnitedManchester United	9	5	1	3	15	14	1	16

He said: “I’m hugely impressed. There are so many positives to look at. For me it’s the way they came into the league, via the play-offs, which sets you back three or four weeks.

“This weekend there were four players from the team last season, so it’s a big change. From a coaching perspective, to implement that so quickly, and to accumulate those points; it’s an unbelievable achievement.”

Sunderland made 15 new signings this summer, at a cost of just over £163m. Usually, that kind of level of change at a club takes a lot of time to adjust to, but the Black Cats have hit the ground running.

Le Bris spoke of his desire to build a Sunderland squad that can compete on all fronts and that has squad depth akin to Chelsea’s. It’s early days, but it looks like they’re on the right track towards those ambitions.

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Sunderland could be the best promoted team in years

Sunderland have shown they can match the best teams in the league, as well as seeing off the weaker teams and getting the results any promoted team needs to get in order to survive.

Other managers have praised Le Bris for his strategy at Sunderland, too, with the likes of Enzo Maresca and Ruben Amorim appreciating the Black Cats’ style of football.

One of the main factors behind Sunderland’s success is their team spirit and togetherness. Granit Xhaka spoke of that previously, as has Chemsdine Talbi this weekend. If they can maintain that belief and mentality, there’s nothing stopping them from finishing in the top half this year.

Indeed, if the Black Cats keep this up, they could very well become the best promoted team in Premier League history.

They already have 17 points on the board. The record for a newly-promoted team is Ipswich Town’s 66-point haul back in 2000/01, while the Sunderland team of 1999/00 ranks highly with 58 points in their first season back in the top flight.

Sunderland have racked up 1.88 points per game as things stand, and if they keep up that level, they’ll end up on 71 points come May. What an achievement that would be!