'I Don't Think So': Thomas Meunier Gives Damning Sunderland Verdict After Ipswich Defeat

Thomas Meunier gives honest verdict on Sunderland's defeat at Ipswich

Sunderland fell to a 2-1 defeat to newly-promoted Ipswich Town on Saturday afternoon to see the Black Cats begin their 2026/27 Premier League campaign with a disappointing display and defeat.

Luke O'Nien made a grave error for Sunderland in a problematic area, which saw in-form Ipswich attacker Julio Enciso set up striker Emersonn to net the opener, before Nilson Angulo's stunning free-kick levelled the scoring just 15 minutes later.

After returning from the interval level, Regis Le Bris' Sunderland side continued to look poor in the second-half, failing to carve open the Ipswich defence with a glaring lack of pace and intensity in their play.

Ultimately, the Black Cats were punished for their lacklustre performance, with former Sunderland star Jack Clarke netting a trademark goal in the final minutes of the opening weekend clash after another defensive error, this time from O'Nien's replacement, Omar Alderete, to send his former side home with zero points.

Summer free agent signing Thomas Meunier was one of the few Sunderland players who did themselves justice at Portman Road, and the experienced defender offered a damning, honest, and intelligent verdict on his new team's substandard showing.

Sunderland's Thomas Meunier in action with Ipswich Town's Marcelino Nunez (REUTERS)Thomas Meunier Issues Honest Verdict On Sunderland Defeat

The lack of impetus, particularly from an attacking sense, was one of many reasons why Sunderland were far from their best in the opening weekend defeat, with Enzo Le Fee, Angulo, and trademark right-back Trai Hume failing to create enough opportunities, one of which Brian Brobbey spurned.

Statistically, Sunderland created two chances at Portman Road and missed both of them, which will leave Le Bris extremely disappointed by the Black Cats' toothlessness in the final third.

From Meunier's perspective, he will have been disappointed to see his impressive individual performance go to waste, with his central defensive teammates Dan Ballard, O'Nien, and Alderete at fault for letting Ipswich frontman Emersonn run them ragged, and the aforementioned Sunderland attackers failed to make an impact in the final third.

Following full-time, 34-year-old veteran Meunier dodged the PR-coded response when asked about Sunderland's chance creation at Ipswich, which highlights how honest and professional the full-back is, and how poor the Black Cats at Portman Road.

When the Sunderland media team told him that 'we created a lot of chances', Meunier rebuffed and said: "Yeah, a lot of chances? I don't think so.

"For me, we have to create many, many more chances with the players that we have. -

"Sometimes we had a lack in infiltration. We cannot say that we played really bad. It's not true.

"We had really good moments and periods in the game, but at the end, we had maybe two or three good chances.

"We were dangerous, but in the 16, it was not as dangerous as we have to be to score a goal.

"We saw that Ipswich was playing, let's say, more simple, more basic and they were quite efficient at the end. In the second half, we were lucky to keep the 1-1 until the end of the game and finally, we killed ourselves today. Two big mistakes and the reaction was missing.

"So yes, I hope it was just an off day today and that next week against Fulham, we will show another phase."

An honest assessment from Thomas Meunier 📺 pic.twitter.com/dWifSHeDQO

— Sunderland AFC (@SunderlandAFC) August 22, 2026Thomas Meunier Hopes For Better From Sunderland vs Fulham

Sunderland host Fulham, who take on Chelsea on Monday evening, next weekend in their first game on home soil of the 26/27 Premier League season.

Hopefully, there will be some fresh recruits added to Le Bris' squad by then, given that the Ipswich loss highlighted Sunderland's glaring need for more signings in the coming days of the summer transfer window, particularly in the attacking department.

Looking ahead to next weekend's Fulham clash, Meunier concluded: "Everything can happen...

"At the end, football is not an exact science. But at home, for the first one of the season, we need to show something else.

"We were maybe good. It was not enough. So we have to be very good to be sure that we get three points next Sunday."

Last term, Sunderland beat West Ham 3-0 in their maiden Stadium of Light outing, and Le Bris' side will be desperate for a similarly impressive display to showcase to the 49,000-plus Black Cats home support that the sub-par Ipswich loss was an anomaly and not an indication of what is to come this season.