Sunday 1 January 2017 09:02, UK
David Moyes slammed his side's performance in Sunderland's 4-1 defeat at Burnley, labelling the showing as "useless".
Sunderland never really got going at Turf Moor, and made it very easy for Andre Gray to net Burnley's first-ever Premier League hat-trick, before Ashley Barnes compounded Sunderland's misery with a fourth.
Jermain Defoe's late consolation did little to cheer Moyes, who was very frank about his side's performance, with the Black Cats' defending bearing the brunt of his wrath.
"I think that is a bad a performance as I have been involved with, in any side, especially defensively," Moyes told Sky Sports. "We were useless.
"It is not easy to explain, as you expect players to stand in the right place and head it, track people, go for the ball at the right time, save it at the right time.
"It can happen, everybody has bad games every now and again. I have been a player, so I know you get these games sometimes.
"Normally, I would give the opposition some credit, but I can only look at my own team today. We were terrible."
Moyes even refused to apportion any of the blame to the fact that he lost two players through injury in the first half, as Lamine Kone and Victor Anichebe were forced off.
"I think losing Lamine Kone was a big blow, as he is really important to the team," Moyes added. "We had already lost Jason Denayer yesterday in training with a hamstring injury.
"We were always going to be stretched, but we didn't even play well when they were on the pitch.
"At this time of year, every team struggles with injuries and suspensions, and we are no different. We will cope with it."
