'When are we going to learn?' - Sunderland legend concerned after Bournemouth defeat

Sunderland legend Gary Bennett has described the Black Cats’ performance in Sunday’s 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth as ‘very concerning’.

Regis Le Bris’ side slipped into the Premier League relegation zone after they endured a nightmare afternoon on the south coast and allowed their hosts to rack up their first league win of the season with minimal fuss. The Cherries took the lead on six minutes with a goal from Marcus Tavernier before Black Cats defender Kevin Danso was shown a straight red card for hauling down Evanilson as the Brazilian striker made his way in on goal.

Omar Alderete had made an error in judgement ahead of the dismissal of his defensive partner - and the Paraguay international was at the heart of Bournemouth’s second goal just three minutes into the second-half when his weak backpass was pounced on by Evanilson, who rounded Robin Roefs before firing into the empty net. Bennett delivered a damning assessment of Sunderland’s performance at the Vitality Stadium and bemoaned the mistakes that led to their fifth defeat in their first seven league game of the season.

Speaking on BBC Newcastle ahead of Thursday’s visit to Lech Poznan, the former Sunderland stalwart said: "At full time you're looking at the game and thinking what positives can Sunderland take from it? The positive for me is that it only remained 2-0, and Robin Roefs’ performance. We have got a problem. It's very concerning, you think about the starting XI, the shape, the intensity of the game. We can't continue, I've said this week in week out, we keep making mistakes and we keep doing it. When are we going to learn? “

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‘We couldn’t deal with it’

Bennett, who made over 440 appearances during an 11-year stay at Sunderland between 1984 and 1995, also bemoaned the performance of centre-back duo Danso and Alderete as their errors ultimately led to a disappointing afternoon against a Bournemouth side that had been lacking in form and confidence ahead of the game.

He said: "You expect the two centre-backs to be big and strong, you know, hard to get by. Evanilson just bundles his way past them for the first one and he did for the second one too. We couldn't deal with it. You look at Kevin Danso and think is he fit? It didn't look like he was. Omar Alderete, was he fit? I mean as in to recover and get back. You look at the first half and we conceded early doors, second half we conceded in the first three minutes. That tells you something. That tells you we are not focused or concentrating on the game. Whatever was said at half time didn't work."

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