Sunderland face another long, hard season under new manager David Moyes after a third defeat from their opening four games at the hands of Everton.
Everton’s Gerard Deulofeu in action with Sunderland’s Jan Kirchhoff
Moyes watched as his Black Cats were brushed aside by his old club 3-0 in the second half of their match on Monday night.
Romelu Lukaku fired a hat-trick in 11 devastating minutes but in truth it could and should have been more for the visitors at the Stadium of Light.
The result leaves Sunderland in the all too familiar territory of the Premier League relegation zone in the fledgling table.
Sunderland manager David Moyes poses
Relations between the Manchester United and Real Sociedad flop and Sunderland’s fans are already strained following their poor start to life after Sam Allardyce.
And Moyes’ recent forthright comments about the club’s prospects this season have not inspired confidence from the terraces either.
Now one of his long-serving former players and captain at Everton, Phil Neville, has delivered his verdict on his old manager’s chances of keeping Sunderland up – when appearing as a guest on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football.
Television pundit and former footballer Phil Neville
“I look at David Moyes and what he has achieved in his career and I think that this will probably be his biggest challenge,” Neville told MNF.
“To keep Sunderland in the Premier League this season, with that group of players, I think will be his biggest, biggest achievement.”
Sunderland’s Lamine Kone
Neville highlighted the performances of Black Cats’ defensive duo Lamine Kone and Papy Djilobodji as causes for concern.
And his sentiments were echoed in not so many words by Moyes after the game with the Scot insisting his side knew full well they must stay disciplined and stick to their positions to nullify the threat of Lukaku.
It was only weeks ago Kone was being linked with a big money move to Everton, cue the conspiracy theorists to come out in force.
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