Luke O’Nien has shared a message on social media after his poor display against Swansea City.
Luke O’Nien has been an ever-present figure in Sunderland’s defence this term, missing only 90 minutes of Championship action due to suspension.
Despite poor team form under Michael Beale, O’Nien had put on some solid displays at the back and had formed a brilliant partnership alongside Dan Ballard.
However, the Northern Ireland international’s absence left his teammate to marshal a new-look back five, and he had a rather eventful afternoon on Wearside to say the least.
The 29-year-old was part of a backline that got run ragged by Swansea City and could have easily conceded three or four goals, though O’Nien was responsible for one that did actually hit the back of the net.
The defender did go onto tuck away his second goal of the season following a free kick from Pierre Ekwah, but it wasn’t enough to rescue a point on home soil.
O’Nien then took to Instagram to share an apologetic message following the defeat, writing: “Owed the team a goal after my error for the second.
“We learn from it and we start the next week better and wiser than the last. Thanks for the support once again.”
Who is to blame for Sunderland’s defeat to Swansea City?
Luke O’Nien has, for the most part, been an important part of our defence this season.
The captain gets a lot of stick from fans and is often used as a scapegoat, but Saturday’s display was one of the few games where he probably deserves the criticism he got.
O’Nien lost possession on eleven occasions and looked likely to gift them a goal multiple times in the first half – which he eventually did.
The blame can’t all be put on O’Nien though, as playing a back five just clearly didn’t work.
Callum Styles had an absolute nightmare afternoon at left wing-back on his debut and I think it’s safe to say we won’t be seeing him there again anytime soon.
It was a poor tactical decision from Mike Dodds and one that he quickly corrected at half-time, at which point it was too late.
Hopefully O’Nien is right and the team can use this blunder as a way to better prepare for the next game, because we definitely can’t make it four defeats in a row.