Editorial: Régis has Sunderland playing like the Harlem Globetrotters!

Today at 02:00 AM

The collective confidence of this Sunderland side should strike fear into the rest of the teams in this division.

What an unbelievable week.

I'm an eternal optimist, but I'm not sure even I expected nine points from the last three games we've played. I thought seven would have been a brilliant return, so to get three massive wins is amazing.

Not just three wins either, but two clean sheets — and while we conceded away at Luton, it was an unbelievable defensive performance. Their goal only came from a set piece and not open play, so we can take heart from that.

There's not much else you can say other than this run of form from Sunderland is incredible. It's beyond any of our expectations, and I'm just living in the moment and enjoying every second of it.

I loved everything about the wins at Hull and especially at Luton, but I reckon the manner of the performance against Oxford might have just been my favourite.

It was pure, ruthless dominance from Régis Le Bris' side — the kind we hadn't seen yet this season. You expect every team to have a spell in the game where they're on top, but Oxford just didn't. We absolutely mullered them without getting out of first gear. They couldn't answer anything we threw at them, and on another day we could have scored four or five.

We talked about this on Friday Night Live on Twitter, actually — I said we were bound to batter someone at some point, and the Oxford game may have been that moment. We didn't, and 2-0 looks very respectable considering where Des Buckingham's side find themselves at the minute, but in terms of a complete performance, this was as good as it gets.

We were pure class, and the confidence of our players just oozed out all over the pitch. They knew they were winning this game before they even stepped onto the park, and some of the trickery and skill on show was fabulous to watch. It felt like watching the Harlem Globetrotters — the lads were all enjoying strutting their stuff and asserting their dominance over a clearly inferior opponent. It was class to see.

Jobe Bellingham is fantastic, and I think his form so far this season has proven he has what it takes to reach the very top — hopefully with us. I think that was one of the best midfield performances I've seen from a Sunderland player in recent memory. He ran the game, Oxford couldn't get near him, and he scored a cracking goal. If it hadn't been for the post, he might have had another, and he was doing things both on and off the ball that a player at this level really has no right to do. He's a starboy alright.

Chris Rigg was the same, although less of it came off for him. He probably should have scored after being played in with a fantastic turn and pass from Jobe, but he too had moments where he was feeling the confidence of our situation and was doing things that would usually be reserved for the training ground.

When you've got two teenagers in the middle of the park completely taking the piss, you know you're doing something very right.

I could go right through the team and spend an hour talking about how great they were, but I won't — although it'd be remiss if I didn't mention Dan Neil, who had his best game of the season. Dan's taken more flack than anyone recently after some subpar performances, but he looks like he's turning a corner, and against Oxford, he was back to his best.

There aren't many players in the Championship capable of playing the type of pass he did for Wilson Isidor's ridiculous over-the-shoulder volley, and that's what we need to see more of from him now — it's what he's best at.

The collective confidence of this group should strike fear into the rest of the teams in this division. We've created an environment where these players feel invincible. You don't try passes like the one Neil played for the second goal, nor do you attempt to volley the ball as it's arriving over your shoulder at a run like Wilson Isidor did, if you're not full of self-belief.

And the best part? I still think we're only in second gear, and we're capable of even more than what we're showing. With a bunch of high-quality players set to return to the fold over the coming weeks, the squad is about to become a lot stronger, which should raise our standards even higher.

Enjoy it. Enjoy every single second of it, because we cannot take anything for granted. This feels good, but it should only be the start of the hard work — we have a long way to go.