Exclusive:Kevin Phillips reacts to 'concerning' Nordi Mukiele verdict on Sunderland struggles
Kevin Phillips has been speaking about Sunderland defender Nordi Mukiele’s recent comments.
Kevin Phillips has issued his verdict on Nordi Mukiele’s recent comments surrounding Sunderland’s ongoing struggles in the Premier League, admitting that it is “concerning” to hear a player speak so candidly about a drop in standards.
In the aftermath of the Black Cats’ 2-0 defeat to Bournemouth at the weekend - a result that ultimately saw them drop to the foot of the top flight table - the defender delivered a frank assessment of his side’s performance, stating: "If I have to be honest with you, we are not good. "We are not good enough. If we deserve to be where we are today? Yeah, definitely. Why? I don't know. Maybe because we became arrogant, maybe. This is what I think. We struggle everywhere, to be honest. We don't score enough, we concede so much... We are not good to all the parts.”
And in an exclusive interview with The Echo, courtesy of BestBettingSites, Phillips has argued that there has been a notable drop in Sunderland’s output so far this season - and that it is worrying to hear players openly acknowledge that they are feeling it too.
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He said: “Listen, there's a lot of players that have come out and said various things. It's frustration. Whether ‘arrogance’ is the right word, only he can say that, because he's in and around the dressing room, in and around the training ground. But from the outside looking in, I'm not so sure about that. It does look like they're not at the levels they were last year, whether that's coinciding with a lot of players being away on World Cup duty, or the amount of games.
“So it's concerning to hear players come out and say that, because the manager can try and sort that out, but the players have to sort it out between themselves. I think Robin Roefs has come out and said about complacency, the standards are not the same as last year, so that's concerning to hear. So hopefully, when the players start coming out saying those things, other players take note, because it's only the players that can get themselves out of this mess.”
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