David Moyes admits Sunderland will need to improve their defending if they are to have any chance of avoiding the drop this season.
A second half hat-trick from Romelu Lukaku condemned the Black Cats to a 3-0 home defeat against Everton on Monday, a result that leaves them 19th in the table, having taken just a single point from a possible 12.
The delays in Sam Allardyce’s appointment as England manager meant Moyes’ arrival at the Stadium of Light left him with limited time to work with his players, while his recent signings still appear to be settling in.
This has been evidenced by their disjointed performances so far and it already appears like it could be another season of struggle for the Wearsiders, with them currently 2.20 to go down.
Speaking after Monday’s game, the 53-year-old refused to blame his young side’s defeat on their inexperience and says the way they defended after the break was simply unacceptable at the top level.
“We were really poor in the second half, but I thought, in the first half, we showed some good things. We had one or two opportunities ourselves,” he told Sky Sports.
“But we weren’t in the right positions to defend crosses in the second half. “For two of the goals from crosses, I couldn’t believe we didn’t have defenders in the middle of the goal, especially against Lukaku.
“We’ve got to try not to concede any goals, we had some decent play going forward at times and we had a young side out. But that’s no excuse – when you’re in the big league, you’ve got to step up to it.”
Sunday sees Sunderland travel to the capital to take on Tottenham, a game they are the 9.50 outsiders to win, with the draw 5.25 and the Lilywhites 1.33.
Leave a comment
Link Dafabet