Sunderland have been leaking goals, which has contributed to their poor start to the season.
Sunderland manager David Moyes has said that defender Papy Djilobodji is aware that he has made mistakes at the start of his Sunderland career, but has the Scot’s backing to put things right, the Sunderland Echo reports.
Djilobodji’s error led to Harry Kane’s strike settling the Black Cats’ last encounter, with Tottenham Hotspur ending up as 1-0 winners.
Moyes is quoted in the Sunderland Echo, saying: “He’s watched the clips on the video and we’ve looked at what he should have done better and how he should have dealt with things.
“He’s accepting that. We’re on the pitch with him trying to make things better. It would be worse if it was someone saying ‘no, I’m not making any mistakes, I’m doing fine’.”
An admission that Djilobodji has some work to do to improve his defending is a good thing, and there is a challenge of Moyes’ man management to come. Does he stick with the player in the hope that he gets things right, and demonstrates he has been working on eradicating errors, or does he try to take him out of the firing line?
Either way, there is a serious need for Sunderland to improve at the back as they have failed to record a clean sheet in the Premier League so far this season, with only Stoke City and West Ham United conceding more goals so far this season.
The club is trying to effectively establish a new defensive unit at the back given the new arrivals and injuries and it has been one of the reasons why some of the players look like strangers.
But there is a need to cut out some of the basic errors that Sunderland have been making if they are going to improve, and survive in the division once again. It will take more than the one player to acknowledge their errors.
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