Sunderland fans will be struggling to find words to describe their team’s performance against Scunthorpe United on the weekend. The team lost 3-0 to a side that sits 21st in the EFL League Two (Sky Sports).
Perhaps a 1-0 loss would have been more acceptable and written off as a one-off performance, however, the actual scoreline suggests things are much worse at Sunderland. It was the club’s fourth loss in eight games under Phil Parkinson (WhoScored.com).
But the scoreline could have actually been a lot worse. Roker Report shared a tweet highlighting the team’s awful defending against the League Two team. The footage shows Scunthorpe’s Abo Eisa dribble through the whole Sunderland defence before being denied by goalkeeper Lee Burge. Fans couldn’t believe how shocking the defending actually was, while another pointed out that it’s happening more and more frequently.
That’s horrific
— Gary Burrell (@GaryBurrell76) November 13, 2019
Just a reminder that the opposition are towards the bottom of League 2…….
— Gary Jerry (@garyjerry) November 13, 2019
Entire team by the look of it and not one challenge !!
— Neil Philip Thornton (@NeilPhilipThor1) November 13, 2019
Wasn’t Parkinson supposed to be goof at sorting out defences? We’ve gone backwards under him!
— George Carney (@P6GWC_91) November 13, 2019
This is literally happening every time we play away from home. We have bodies back but no desire to win the ball, no bottle to make a challenge. Pathetic.
— Jord (@_wisemensay) November 13, 2019
Other fans couldn’t agree on what level the showing compared to. One said it would be unfair to schoolboys to make comparisons to them, while another said the same thing about Sunday League teams. They eventually came to the conclusion that Under Nines would be a comparable level.
I would say schoolboy but it’s not that good.
— Gareth Hern (@garethhern) November 13, 2019
I would say it’s Sunday league level but that would be an insult to them .
— Stuart Wilson (@StuartW45463944) November 13, 2019
Under 9 defending
— Ryan Palliser (@RJPalliser10) November 13, 2019
Disgraceful that. Me 6 year old would tackle better than that
— Michael Urwin (@MichaelUrwin4) November 13, 2019
Like junior football that
— Ash Powell (@Pow78) November 13, 2019
What do we think?
The footage is truly shocking. If the club continue to give their opposition chances like this to score on a regular basis, there is no chance they will get out of the EFL League One. There is still time to knuckle down and focus, however, with a lot of the season still yet to be played. One thing is for sure, though. Something needs to change.