Sunderland’s defeat to Hull City this weekend may seem like a disaster, but Luke O’Nien knows exactly where the Black Cats went wrong.
It’s now two losses within a week for Sunderland who, after falling to a late defeat against Leeds United on Monday, succumbed to a far more disappointing collapse against struggling Hull on Saturday afternoon.
Regis Le Bris’ men put in a limp display and saw their unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light disappear, leading to vocal discontent from the home fans at full-time.
Fingers will largely be pointed at Anthony Patterson, whose horrendous error led to Hull’s goal, but the mistakes run much deeper than that single moment.
- READ MORE: ‘Definitely’… Referee Farai Hallam told he made a critical error in Sunderland defeat vs Hull City
Sunderland were second-best in both boxes vs Hull City
Speaking after the game (via the club’s social media account), Luke O’Nien discussed where things went wrong for the Mackems, but suggested there are valuable lessons to be learned here.
O’Nien said: “We had enough chances to score and we didn’t take them. We gave them a few chances too and allowed them to score. We will watch, review, and get better.
“Perspective is always key after a loss, but losing that [home unbeaten] record is disappointing. Moving forward though we need to build some form.
“With the dip in form in the last two games — although we did well against Leeds — there’s lots to take away, and there’s growth for the team to take from this. It’s a hard one to take though. We lost, we weren’t good enough in both boxes. Individually and collectively we will get better.”
Sunderland have now lost ground on the top three teams in the Championship table, and many would suggest the Black Cats will have to settle for a play-off spot rather than automatic promotion. But, O’Nien still believes his team can go all the way and escape the Championship this season.
He added: “At the start of the season there was uncertainty, but we’ve now put expectation back, we expect to win every game… but we need to meet that expectancy.
“We have an expectancy that we can get to the Premier League, which is something I’ve always dreamed of with this club. We weren’t good enough today, but we can get better and we have to tighten up now.”
- READ MORE: Regis Le Bris now repeating Mike Dodds’ 23/24 error as ‘jaded’ Sunderland stars lose to Hull City
Sunderland need Anthony Patterson to get back to his best
As we mentioned before, a lot of the problems would have been avoided against Hull if Anthony Patterson had not made that heinous error leading to the goal.
He was the worst Sunderland player on the pitch on the day, and Le Bris is now asking ‘serious questions’ of his goalkeeper after yet another weak showing between the sticks.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 33 | 21 | 9 | 3 | 68 | 20 | 48 | 72 |
| 2 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 33 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 47 | 23 | 24 | 70 |
| 3 |  BurnleyBurnley | 34 | 18 | 14 | 2 | 43 | 9 | 34 | 68 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 50 | 31 | 19 | 62 |
| 5 |  West BromWest Brom | 34 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 44 | 31 | 13 | 51 |
| 6 |  BlackburnBlackburn | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 39 | 34 | 5 | 51 |
The fact of the matter is, when your goalkeeper isn’t playing well, the whole defensive unit is compromised. Seeing Patterson fumble the ball into his own net, just days after seeing him struggle to deal with Leeds’ set-piece deliveries, is bound to unsettle everyone around him.
On his day, Patterson is one of the best goalkeepers in the division, and he needs to start acting like it. It would be unfair to lay all the blame on one player, but he’s so pivotal to everything Sunderland do, and he simply has to find that confidence and form again, quickly.