Saturday 26 September 2015 20:39, UK
Sunderland boss Dick Advocaat singled out Patrick van Aanholt, Adam Johnson and Fabio Borini for criticism after the 3-0 defeat at Manchester United.
Manchester City's defeat at Tottenham at lunchtime opened the door for United to move to the summit and they grasped the opportunity thanks to goals from Memphis Depay, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney, who ended a 1,000-minute Premier League goal drought.
Sunderland held their own in the first half until Memphis broke the deadlock, and they showed much more solidity than they have done of late.
However, Advocaat publicly criticised Van Aanholt, Johnson and Borini for their role in the defeat.
"The first goal, it was a long ball," Advocaat said. "Patrick van Aanholt is watching his own man rather than following the ball.
"You cannot let the ball go from that distance. The second goal was too easy, the third goal the same.
"Every ball he [Johnson] touched was wrong," said Advocaat. "Borini as a striker had problems keeping the ball, that's why I brought on [Steven] Fletcher at half-time."
Advocaat also admitted much work must be done for Sunderland to drag themselves off the bottom and out of the relegation zone.
"We have a lot of games to go but we have to think about how we change things in the squad, as players," he added.
