Saturday 8 August 2015 18:30, UK
Sunderland manager Dick Advocaat was critical of his side’s performance as they were beaten 4-2 by Leicester on the opening day of the Premier League season.
The Black Cats were blown away in the opening 30 minutes at the King Power Stadium as they conceded three times without reply.
Although they improved after the break and scored through Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher, Advocaat acknowledged the damage had been done by then.
“You can always lose if the other team is better, I can accept that, but the way we played in the first half was not good enough,” he told Sky Sports.
“There was no sharpness and we didn’t show that we wanted to win. Leicester wanted to win and we were always too late.
“I have seen what I already knew, it’s difficult to change that at the moment but we have to change something because we cannot go on this way.”
Advocaat was responsible for keeping Sunderland up last season as he took charge with nine games to go and led them to a 16th-place finish.
But he was left frustrated after the opening day of the 2015/16 campaign as his side were outplayed by Leicester, particularly in the early stages.
“In the first half, Leicester were sharper, better and deserved to win,” he said. “All three of the first-half goals, when the cross comes you have to win it.
“The third goal somebody was sleeping and they scored. We were not sharp enough and Leicester were sharper, it is quite simple.
“We struggled to cope with their pace at the back in midfield and at the back so we have to think about what we need to do this week.”
